insecure

English

Etymology

From in- +‎ secure, or from Medieval Latin insēcūrus, itself from in- (“in-, un-, non-”) + sēcūrus (“safe, certain”). Piecewise doublet of unsecure and unsure.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnsəˈkjʊə(ɹ)/, /ɪnsəˈkjɔː(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnsəˈkjʊɹ/, /ɪnsəˈkjɝ/, /ɪnsəˈkjɔɹ/
• Rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ)

Adjective

insecure (comparative more insecure, superlative most insecure)

1. Not secure.
2. Not comfortable or confident in oneself or in certain situations.

   He's a nice guy and all, but seems to be rather insecure around other people.

   Imagine being so insecure that you make it against the law for folks to dislike you.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. […]   The bed was the most extravagant piece.  Its graceful cane halftester rose high towards the cornice and was so festooned in carved white wood that the effect was positively insecure, as if the great couch were trimmed with icing sugar.

   • 2021, Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, “What is... jealousy?”, in Let's Talk About It, →ISBN, page 191:

     When you're knee-deep in these insecure feelings, it can be hard to see clearly.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “not comfortable or confident”): confident, self-confident

Derived terms

• food-insecure
• insecurely
• insecureness
• insecurity

Translations

not secure

Bulgarian: несигурен (bg) (nesiguren), опасен (bg) (opasen) Catalan: insegur (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 不安全的 (bù ānquán de) Danish: usikker Dutch: onbeveiligd (nl) Finnish: epävarma (fi), epäluotettava (fi), turvaton (fi) French: insécurisé (fr) German: nicht sicher Greek: ανασφαλής (el) (anasfalís) Hindi: असुरक्षित (asurakṣit) Icelandic: óöruggur Indonesian: rendah diri (id), minder (id) Italian: insicuro (it), malsicuro (it) Macedonian: неси́гурен (nesíguren), о́пасен (ópasen) Maori: tītengi, pānekeneke, mātangatanga Polish: niezabezpieczony Portuguese: inseguro (pt) Russian: небезопа́сный (ru) (nebezopásnyj), опа́сный (ru) (opásnyj), ненадёжный (ru) (nenadjóžnyj) Serbo-Croatian: nesiguran (sh) Spanish: inseguro (es), en globo Swedish: osäker (sv) Turkish: emniyetsiz (tr), güvensiz (tr), tehlikede (tr)

not comfortable in certain situations

Bulgarian: несигурен (bg) (nesiguren) Catalan: insegur (ca) Czech: nejistý Danish: usikker, utryg Dutch: onzeker (nl) Finnish: epävarma (fi) French: inconfortable (fr), inquiet (fr) German: unsicher (de) Greek: ανασφαλής (el) (anasfalís) Haitian Creole: anksyeu Hindi: असुरक्षित (asurakṣit) Macedonian: неси́гурен (nesíguren) Polish: niepewny (pl), niepewny siebie Portuguese: inseguro (pt) Russian: неуве́ренный (ru) (neuvérennyj) Serbo-Croatian: nesiguran (sh) Spanish: inseguro (es) Swedish: otrygg (sv)

Anagrams

• sinecure