surety

noun

ˈshu̇r(-ə)-tē How to pronounce surety (audio)
Definition of suretynext
1
as in contract
a formal agreement to fulfill an obligation gave his surety that he would pay back the loan if his sister was unable to for any reason

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in sponsor
a person who takes the responsibility for some other person or thing a mutual friend agreed to act as surety if I lent my cousin some money, since I wasn't certain that she'd be able to pay it back

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in assurance
a state of mind in which one is free from doubt I can't tell you the year in which that event happened with any great surety

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of surety Bond was set at $400,000 cash or surety, court records show. — Paula Wethington, CBS News, 23 June 2026 Tragicomedy is an assault on surety. — Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 14 June 2026 Bond has been set at $6,000 cash with an additional $10,000 surety. — Jim Woods, Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2026 Those tighter ranges reflect more surety over finances as the end of the accounting year in June looms, while the increases follow Michael Carrick guiding United to a third-place finish in the Premier League. — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 27 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for surety
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surety
  1. contract
  2. sponsor
  3. assurance
  4. guarantee
  5. patron
  6. certainty
  7. deal
  8. guarantor
Noun
  • In practice, governments still want contracts, jobs, and tax revenue at home.
    — Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 6 July 2026
  • Pavel Mintyukov signs contract extension with Ducks Defenseman Pavel Mintyukov has agreed to five-year contract extension worth $36 million with the Ducks, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told the Associated Press.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
Definition of contract
Noun
  • Some watchdog groups have raised ethics concerns, noting that many corporate sponsors have business before the government or significant government contracts, including Palantir and United Airlines.
    — Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 3 July 2026
  • Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee released a report this week criticizing the president and Freedom 250, accusing it of diverting funds and misleading sponsors.
    — Luke Fountain, CNBC, 3 July 2026
Definition of sponsor
Noun
  • This potential confidence-as-assurance issue has increased as digital assets become more integrated with payments, trading, tax reporting, and anti-money-laundering programs.
    — Sean Stein Smith, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
  • The new powers would also include information from third parties, such as age assurance technology providers, to test claims made by the platforms about how those under 16 continued to circumvent the ban, the statement said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 28 June 2026
Definition of assurance
Noun
  • The price equation If OPEC turns the spigots to max, a complex operation with no guarantee of success, all that oil may have nowhere to go.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 6 July 2026
  • Credit Saint Credit Restoration Highlights Credit Saint offers three packages for credit repair services and a 90-day money-back guarantee for services.
    — Brian Sloan,Dan Avery, CNBC, 6 July 2026
Definition of guarantee
Noun
  • The princess, who early last year announced her cancer was in remission, is the patron of the All England Club.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 July 2026
  • Princess Kate is an avid tennis player and the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, where Wimbledon has been held since the championships' inception in the 1870s.
    — Janine Henni, PEOPLE, 2 July 2026
Definition of patron
Noun
  • Silverstone’s long-term contract through 2034 provides additional economic certainty, with the agreement projected to generate more than £1 billion in localised financial value over its lifetime.
    — Kate Hardcastle, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • There was no certainty on when the pandemic would end or how the sports world would operate in the months and years afterward.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of certainty
Noun
  • The NBCUniversal spin-off is envisioned as a tax-free transaction for shareholders, providing a short-term buffer from deal-making to preserve that structure.
    — Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026
  • Now, the 76ers have some hope, as the franchise on Wednesday agreed to a deal for Boston Celtics star forward Jaylen Brown, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania and other news reports.
    — Tim Casey, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of deal
Noun
  • Neighbors digging with their hands is usually the true image of first responders, yet the longer that image lasts the more evident the State’s failure is in fulfilling its duties as guarantors of life and public safety.
    — Luis E. Romero, Forbes.com, 27 June 2026
  • While no regional power is currently capable of replacing the US as the Gulf’s security guarantor, officials are increasingly contemplating a future in which Washington plays a much smaller role in the regional security architecture, the diplomat said.
    — Nic Robertson, CNN Money, 24 June 2026
Definition of guarantor

Browse Nearby Words

sureties
surety
surf
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Surety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surety. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on surety

Nglish: Translation of surety for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about surety

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All