Etymologically
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insecure

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɪnsəˈkjʊə(ɹ)/, /ɪnsəˈkjɔː(ɹ)/[1]
  • US: /ɪnsəˈkjʊɹ/, /ɪnsəˈkjɝ/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin insēcūrus (“unsafe”),[2][3][4][5][6] the negative of sēcūrus (“free from care”).[2][3][7] The Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English also allow that it was formed in English from in- and secure.[8][7] Johnson (1755) derived it the same way.[9] The Latin adjective is formed from sē- (“without”) and cūra (“care”), so that secure means etymologically "carefree".[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not sure, lacking assurance or confidence; uncertain: 1649, in Jeremy Taylor's Great Exemplar,[2][4] the 1640s in Etymonline, which also gives the sense "unsafe".[3] The same work has the first record of a verb insecure, to make insecure, used until 1675.[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense "unsafe, exposed to danger; not firm" follows in 1655, in Hamon L'Estrange.[2] Johnson (1755) gave two senses, "not confident of safety" and "not safe".[9] The psychological sense, of a person who lacks self-confidence and feels anxious, dates from 1935,[2][3] somewhat after the psychological sense of insecurity (1917).[3] The Shorter Oxford now lists the sense "lacking assurance or confidence" first.[8]

Timeline

  • 1649 – uncertain, lacking assurance or confidence.[2][4]
  • 1649 – verb, to make insecure (obsolete by 1675).[2]
  • 1655 – unsafe, exposed to danger, not firm.[2]
  • 1917 – insecurity, in its psychological sense.[3]
  • 1935 – psychology, lacking self-confidence.[2][3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Lacking confidence in oneself; anxious or unsure: The new player felt insecure among the older members of the team.
  2. Not properly guarded or protected; exposed to danger or risk: an insecure computer network.
  3. Not firmly fixed or fastened; unstable or shaky: The ladder felt insecure on the wet floor.
  4. Not likely to last; uncertain: insecure jobs.

Word family

  • insecurely
  • insecureness
  • insecurity

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  11. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black