Etymologically
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unsure

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ʌnˈʃɔː(r)/, /ʌnʃʊə(r)/[1]
  • US: /ʌnˈʃʊr/[1]

Etymology

It was formed in Middle English from the prefix un-, not, and the adjective sure.[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not safe against attack, exposed to danger: about 1400, in the alliterative Alexander,[2][5] and in Etymonline also of a person lacking certainty.[3]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century the word developed most of its senses: "unsafe, liable to give way" (1426, in Lydgate),[2] "dependent on chance, precarious" (about 1412, in Hoccleve),[2][3] "unreliable" and "doubtful, not fixed" (both about 1445, in Pecock),[2] and, of people, "lacking certainty or confidence" (1412–20, in Lydgate).[2] Johnson (1755) defined it only as "not fixed; not certain", quoting Shakespeare's "What's to come is still unsure".[6] The sense "not safe from attack" is now obsolete except in dialect,[5][4] and the English Dialect Dictionary records "uncertain; insecure, unsafe" in Scotland, Ireland, Yorkshire, Lancashire and Lincolnshire.[7] The modern sense, uncertain about something or about oneself, continues the 15th-century use for people.[2][4]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – not safe against attack.[2][3]
  • c. 1412 – uncertain, precarious.[2]
  • 1412–20 – of a person, lacking certainty.[2]
  • 1426 – unsafe, liable to give way.[2]
  • c. 1445 – unreliable; doubtful.[2]
  • 1633 – marked by lack of assurance.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Not certain about something; doubtful: He was unsure which road led back to the village.
  2. Lacking confidence in oneself: unsure of herself.
  3. Not reliable or firmly fixed; precarious.

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)