What does “safe” mean?
- 1
adjectivenot in danger, or not likely to cause harm
Is it safe to swim here?
- 2
adjectivenot likely to lead to risk or failure
It’s a safe bet that prices will go up.
- 3
nouna strong metal box with a lock for keeping money or valuables
The hotel room has a small safe.
Safe at a glance
- Part of speech
- adjective & noun
- CEFR level
- A2 (elementary)
- Pronunciation
- /seɪf/ · SAYF
How to use “safe” correctly
“Safe” is the adjective and “safety” is the noun: “for your safety”, not “for your safe”. “To be on the safe side” means to avoid risk.
Common phrases with “safe”
- safe and sound
- feel safe
- to be on the safe side
- safe from
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Synonyms (similar meaning)
- secure
- protected
Antonyms (opposite meaning)
- dangerous
- unsafe
Word family
- safety
- safely
- unsafe
- save
Idioms with “safe”
- Better safe than sorry: It is wiser to be careful now than to risk a problem later.
“safe” is on these word lists
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- become verbA2to begin to be something
- carry verbA2to hold something and take it with you from one place to another
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- continue verbA2to keep doing something or keep happening without stopping