secure

Syllables: se·cure/sɪˈkjʊə(ɹ)//səˈkjʊɹ/

secure adjective: free from attack or danger; protected.

Adjective

secure (comparative securer or more secure, superlative securest or most secure)

Free from attack or danger; protected.
- The vast majority of American Jews not only greatly dislike President Trump but also believe he has made them less safe: according to a May 2019 poll, nearly three-quarters of Jewish voters believe American Jews are less secure under Trump than they were before, 71 percent disapprove of Trump’s...2020 March, Joshua Leifer, “Led Astray”, in The Baffler, number 50
Free from the danger of theft; safe.
Free from the risk of eavesdropping, interception or discovery; secret.
Free from anxiety or doubt; unafraid.
- But thou, secure of soul, unbent with woes.1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
- No sooner were we up there, than the old woman dragged the ladder, by which we had ascended, away with a chuckle, as if she was now secure that we could do no mischief, and sat herself down again once more, to doze and await her master's return.1861, Elizabeth Gaskell, The Grey Woman
Firm and not likely to fail; stable.
Free from the risk of financial loss; reliable.
Confident in opinion; not entertaining, or not having reason to entertain, doubt; certain; sure; commonly used with of.
- secure of a welcome
- Confidence then bore thee on, secure / Either to meet no danger, or to find / Matter of glorious trial.1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC...
(obsolete) Overconfident; incautious; careless.
- They were secure where they ought to have been wary, and timorous where they might well have been secure.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC
Certain to be achieved or gained; assured.
- Just when victory seemed secure, they let it slip from their grasp.

Verb

secure (third-person singular simple present secures, present participle securing, simple past and past participle secured)

To make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.
- I spread a cloud before the victor's sight, / Sustained the vanquished, and secured his flight.1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
To put beyond hazard of losing or of not receiving; to make certain; to assure; frequently with against or from, or formerly with of.
- to secure a creditor against loss; to secure a debt by a mortgage
- It secures its possessor of eternal happiness.1831, Thomas Dick, The Philosophy of Religion
To fix in place; to close or confine effectually; to render incapable of getting loose or escaping.
- to secure a prisoner; to secure a door, or the hatches of a ship
- All springs for the engine and tender are of the laminated type with plates of carbon steel, which are secured in the spring buckles by a vertical centre rivet.1951 March, “British Railways Standard "Britannia" Class 4-6-2 Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 186
To get possession of; to make oneself secure of; to acquire certainly.
- to secure an estate
- Her achievements have secured her place in the annals of our nation
(obsolete, transitive) To plight or pledge.

secure meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

secure in Tamil

அடை, முயன்றடை, பெறு, நாடிப்பெறு, தனதாக்கிக் கொள், பத்திரப்படுத்து

secure in Urdu

secure: ٹائٹ ṭāiṭ

More languagesFewer languages

secure in Bengali: অভেদ্য, নিশ্চিত, নিশ্চিন্ত নিরাপদ, নিরূপদ্রব
secure in Malayalam: സുരക്ഷിതമാക്കുക
secure in Kannada: ಗಳಿಸು, ಪಡೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳು, ಸಂಪಾದಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳು, ದೊರಕಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳು
secure in Gujarati: સાંચવું sā̃cvũ
secure in Nepali: बाँध्नु bā̃dhnu
secure in Indonesian: mengamankan
secure in Persian: ایمن imen, امن amn, مطمئن motma'en
secure in Vietnamese: an toàn

Examples of secure in a sentence

With the Argentinian secured United will step up their attempt to sign a midfielder and, possibly, a defender in the closing days of the transfer window.2014 August 26, Jamie Jackson, “Ángel di María says Manchester United were the ‘only club’ after Real”, in The Guardian:
[Captain] was able to secure some good photographs of the fortress.1911, Flight, page 766:

All 40 example sentences with secure

Antonyms of secure

insecure

Forms of secure

Adjective
comparative	securer
comparative	more secure
superlative	securest
superlative	most secure
alternative form (obsolete)	secuer
Verb
third-person singular present	secures
present participle	securing
past participle	secured
past	secured
second-person singular present (archaic)	securest
second-person singular past (archaic)	securedst
third-person singular present (archaic)	secureth

Past tense of secure: secured

Origin of secure

Borrowed from Latin sēcūrus (“of persons, free from care, quiet, easy; in a bad sense, careless, reckless; of things, tranquil, also free from danger, safe, secure”), from sē- (“without”) + cūra (“care”); see cure. Doublet of sure and the now obsolete or dialectal sicker (“certain, safe”).

Words formed from secure

Phrases with secure

Words that rhyme with secure

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about secure

What does secure mean?: Secure means free from attack or danger; protected.
What is secure in Hindi?: Secure in Hindi is सहीसलामत (sahīsalāmat). See Secure meaning in Hindi.
How do you use secure in a sentence?: With the Argentinian secured United will step up their attempt to sign a midfielder and, possibly, a defender in the closing days of the transfer window.
What part of speech is secure?: Secure can be an adjective or a verb.
How do you pronounce secure?: Secure is pronounced /sɪˈkjʊə(ɹ)/.

Words near secure in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-secure.ogg.

Cite this entry: “secure.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/secure. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.