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Surly vs Sure - What's the difference?

surly | sure |

As adjectives the difference between surly and sure

is that surly is (obsolete) lordly, arrogant, supercilious while sure is .

As an adverb surly

is (obsolete) in an arrogant or supercilious manner.

surly

English

Adjective

(er)
  • (obsolete) Lordly, arrogant, supercilious.
  • Irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly.
  • Threatening, menacing, gloomy.
  • The surly weather put us all in a bad mood.

    Adverb

    (er)
  • (obsolete) In an arrogant or supercilious manner.
  • * 1623 , , Julius Caesar , I.iii,
  • Against the Capitol I met a lion / Who glazed upon me, and went surly

    sure

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Physically secure and certain, non-failing, reliable.
  • Certain in one's knowledge or belief.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.}}
  • Certain to act or be a specified way.
  • (obsolete) Free from danger; safe; secure.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Fear not; the forest is not three leagues off; / If we recover that we are sure enough.
  • (obsolete) Betrothed; engaged to marry.
  • * Sir T. More
  • The king was sure to Dame Elizabeth Lucy, and her husband before God.
  • * Brome
  • I presume that you had been sure as fast as faith could bind you, man and wife.

    Synonyms

    * (secure and steadfast) certain, failsafe, reliable * (sense, steadfast in one's knowledge or belief) certain, positive, wis

    Derived terms

    * for sure * surely * sure up (sure)

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Without doubt.
  • Sure he's coming! Why wouldn't he?
    "Did you kill that bear yourself? ?"I sure did!"

    Usage notes

    * Often proscribed in favor of surely. May be informal.

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • (rft-sense) Yes, of course.
  • Synonyms

    * certainly, of course, OK, yes

    References

    * 1996, T.F. Hoad, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Etymology , Oxford University Press, ISBN 0192830988

    Statistics

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