as in reliable
not likely to fail
pizza seems like a surefire choice for a food that everyone at the party will be happy with
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Recent Examples of surefire
With several weeks of training camp and two preseason games in the books, Milton just might be slipping as the surefire No. 2 behind Prescott.
—
Justin Grasso, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Aug. 2025
Color alone isn’t a surefire indicator of tomato ripeness.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Aug. 2025
College campuses are a surefire bet for unexpectedly good food.
—Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer, 30 July 2025
Putting aside the fact that the space-hopping adventure featuring the voice of Zoe Saldaña sounds like a surefire hit with kids, any new film from Pixar is an inherent challenge to family-friendly fare like How to Train Your Dragon.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 15 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for surefire
Justin Grasso, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Aug. 2025
Color alone isn’t a surefire indicator of tomato ripeness.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Aug. 2025
College campuses are a surefire bet for unexpectedly good food.
—Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer, 30 July 2025
Putting aside the fact that the space-hopping adventure featuring the voice of Zoe Saldaña sounds like a surefire hit with kids, any new film from Pixar is an inherent challenge to family-friendly fare like How to Train Your Dragon.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 15 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for surefire
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surefire
Adjective
-
Throughout Amorim’s tenure, United’s wide combinations have been present, but other tactical problems, poor execution and the lack of a reliable goalscorer have impacted their productivity.—
Ahmed Walid,
New York Times,
4 Sep. 2025
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Those events underscored the need for more reliable smoke management tools.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Again, bold and daring and wild changes, sure, but also imaginative and illuminating.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
8 Sep. 2025
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The reason investors are so sure the cuts are coming is that underneath the weak headline number from the nonfarm payroll jobs report—just 22,000 new jobs—was even weaker data from the private sector.—
Jim Edwards,
Fortune,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Takeaway Of course, there is no fail-safe or guarantee.—
Wendy Wisner,
Parents,
29 Aug. 2025
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Circuit breakers Some outlets will have built-in circuit breakers, which will act as a fail-safe if too much power is channeled through the outlet.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Surefire.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surefire. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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