Library / English Dictionary

SURELY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (adverb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Definitely or positively ('sure' is sometimes used informally for 'surely')

Example:

sure he'll come

Synonyms:

certainly; for certain; for sure; sure; sure as shooting; sure enough; surely

Classified under:

Adverbs

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Pertainym:

sure (having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured)

Credits

 Context examples: 

“And there's something under that, no doubt—something, surely, under that, Jim—bad or good.”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Why should I complain, when we both have merely done our duty and will surely be the happier for it in the end?

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I believe that I have no enemy on earth, and none surely would have been so wicked as to destroy me wantonly.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Surely you were with us, Sherry?

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If there had been anything worth her taking, it would surely have been locked up.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She opened the packet; it was too surely so;—a note from Mrs. Weston to herself, ushered in the letter from Frank to Mrs. Weston.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

“But indeed, Sir Claude Latour, it is a great wonder to me that you did not yourself lead these bowmen, for surely they could have found no better leader?”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Surely this must be calm enough.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I confess myself so totally surprised at what you tell me, that really—I beg your pardon; but surely there must be some mistake of person or name.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

I have surely not been dreaming, have I?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)