Safe Meaning
/ˈseɪ̯f/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjNot in danger; out of harm's reach.
adjFree from risk.
Sentence Examples
Your secret will be safe with me.
Nothing great has been achieved by playing it safe.
The children are quite safe here.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The strong metal box kept the important documents ____ from fire and theft.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The jeweler kept the most valuable pieces in a fireproof ____ behind the counter.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English sauf, safe, saf, saaf, from Old French sauf, saulf, salf (“safe”), from Latin salvus (“whole, safe”), from Proto-Italic *salwos, from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“whole, every”). Displaced native Old English sicor (“secure, sure”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In fact, in presenting the home life of these people I have been at some pains to avoid the extreme of privation, taking the cases just as they came to hand on the safer middle-ground of average earnings."
— 1890, Jacob A[ugust] Riis, “The Sweaters of Jewtown”, in How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 133:
"When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. He had him gripped firmly by the arm, since he felt it was not safe to let him loose, and he had no immediate idea what to do with him."
— 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
"Probably the safest and easiest 'tool' that you can use to get off your rusty-dusty and follow your choice of exercise routine."
— 2012, D.B. Myers, The BodyWise Health System, page 37:
"and you also forgot to mentioned^([sic]) the wheels man you know bmw playing / ragga jungle hip hop tunes / and on the mobile / yeah safe! / nice one / later"
— 1996 August 12, "Mandrake", “Re: Multiple Messages - an apology”, in uk.people.gothic (Usenet):
"Young Mal: Yu can’t. Irie means yer cool, yer safe, everything awright."
— 1996 or 1997, Roy Williams, Plays 1: The No Boys Cricket Club / Startstruck / Lift Off, Methuen, published 2002, →ISBN, page 165:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The strong metal box kept the important documents ____ from fire and theft.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The jeweler kept the most valuable pieces in a fireproof ____ behind the counter.