Word family noun certainty ≠ uncertainty adjective certain ≠ uncertain adverb certainly ≠ uncertainly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcertaintycer‧tain‧ty /ˈsɜːtnti $ ˈsɜːr-/ ●●○ noun (plural certainties) 1 [uncountable]SURE the state of being completely certainwith certainty She knew with absolute certainty that he’d say no. The result is impossible to predict with any degree of certainty.2 [uncountable] the fact that something is certain to happencertainty of (doing) something the certainty of being caughtcertainty that There’s no certainty that he’ll remember.3 [countable]CERTAINLY/DEFINITELY something that is definitely true or that will definitely happen He usually does quite well, but it’s not a certainty. The only certainty is that there will need to be major changes.Examples from the Corpus
certainty• Further job cutbacks are a certainty.• On the other hand, we can never possess such a certainty that some one loves us.• It is also wiser not to treat every offer as an 18-carat-gold certainty.• Patrick Gabriel had brought corruption, disturbing order, shaking the certainties that Quex needed.• The theological certainties he found in others intrigued, but never convinced Eyre.• This diagnosis can be established with certainty only by testing the cerebrospinal fluid.with certainty• No one can say with any certainty how much oil is there.certainty of (doing) something• A radar rolls lazily around, ominous in the continuous certainty of its task.• The search for certainty of this sort requires that one side of a dichotomy be privileged while its other is denigrated.• The middle-ground certainties of life are shifting.• Provided there is sufficient interest, tenders should also result in certainty of sale within a defined period.• Doubts are raised about the certainty of their own ideas.• He felt the certainty of it.• The standardization of textual requirements was an equally important contribution of the Hague Rules to the certainty of the ocean bill.• No detectable makeup clutters a face that can go steely with the certainty of design convictions. 