secure
se·cure/səˈkjʊɹ/adjective, verb
secure is spelled S-E-C-U-R-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (se·cure). It appears 44 times per million words in written English, the 2,290th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, secure means “Free from attack or danger; protected” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in secure?
| Letters | 6: S-E-C-U-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: se·cure |
| In writing | 44 times per million words; the 2,290th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is secure?
Secure appears 44 times per million words in written English, the 2,290th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce secure?
- /sɪˈkjʊə(ɹ)/
- /sɪˈkjɔː(ɹ)/
- US /səˈkjʊɹ/
Secure has 2 syllables, split se·cure in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-secure.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with secure?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as secure from its last stressed vowel (/ʊɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: rescue, recuse, cereus.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of secure
- securer comparative
- more secure comparative
- securest superlative
- most secure superlative
- secures present, singular, he/she/it
- securing participle, present
- secured participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does secure mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Free from attack or danger; protected.
- 2
Free from the danger of theft; safe.
- 3
Free from the risk of eavesdropping, interception or discovery; secret.
- 4
Free from anxiety or doubt; unafraid.
- 5
Firm and not likely to fail; stable.
- 6
Free from the risk of financial loss; reliable.
- 7
Confident in opinion; not entertaining, or not having reason to entertain, doubt; certain; sure; commonly used with of.
secure of a welcome
- 8
obsoleteOverconfident; incautious; careless.
verb
- 1
To make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.
- 2
To put beyond hazard of losing or of not receiving; to make certain; to assure; frequently with against or from, or formerly with of.
to secure a creditor against loss; to secure a debt by a mortgage
- 3
To fix in place; to close or confine effectually; to render incapable of getting loose or escaping.
to secure a prisoner; to secure a door, or the hatches of a ship
- 4
To get possession of; to make oneself secure of; to acquire certainly.
to secure an estate
- 5
obsoleteTo plight or pledge.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Secure in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sûr , sécuriser |
| German | sicher, geschützt, beschützt , sichern, absichern |
| Portuguese | seguro, a salvo , assegurar |
| Spanish | seguro, resguardado, asegurado, a salvo, a salvamano , segurar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does secure come from?
Borrowed from Latin sēcūrus (“of persons, free from care, quiet, easy; in a bad sense, careless, reckless; of things, tranquil, also free from danger, safe, secure”), from sē- (“without”) + cūra (“care”); see cure. Doublet of sure and the now obsolete or dialectal sicker (“certain, safe”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).