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ensure

/ɪnˈʃʊɹ/
verb

ENSURE scores only 6 points in Scrabble, with every tile worth 1, and it has three neighbours: ENDURE, UNSURE and INSURE.

NWL Collins ENABLE

Verb 1 meaning

  1. To make sure or certain of something (usually some future event or condition).

    “I use an alarm clock to ensure that I get up on time.”

Definitions: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA) via Kaikki/Wiktextract

Where it comes from

Etymology

From Middle English ensuren, from Anglo-Norman enseurer, from Old French seur (“sure”). Doublet of insure.

ENSURE means to make sure or certain of something, usually a future event. It is easy to mix up with its neighbour INSURE, which differs in a single letter. At rank 1,988 the word is common in reports and instructions, though it is a low scorer on the board.

ENSURE at a glance

  • Six letters: E, N, S, U, R, E.
  • Every tile is worth 1, so the base score is 6.
  • The anagram is ENURES; neighbours are ENDURE, UNSURE and INSURE.
  • Rank 1,988 by frequency, with a count of 6,394.

Which neighbour should you use: ENSURE, INSURE or ENDURE?

ENDURE swaps the S for a D and means to last. UNSURE changes the first letter and means not certain. INSURE changes the first E to an I.

ENSURE is the one that means to make certain. Each form is a real word, so the board never tells you which you meant.

Why is ENSURE such a low scorer?

E, N, S, U, R and E are each worth 1 point, so the word totals 6. That is as flat as a six-letter word gets. The neighbours do not help much: ENDURE adds 1 point because D is worth 2, and UNSURE and INSURE both stay at 6.

Spend this word for a clean rack, not a big total.

The one upside is that no tile is wasted: all six sit at the same value, so a bonus square lifts any of them equally.

What does ENSURE look like in lists?

Its one anagram is ENURES, a rare verb form, so check your game’s word list before playing it.

Of 22,710 six-letter words, 684 start with E, and 2,671 end in E, about 12 percent. The -URE tail matches SURE, FUTURE, PICTURE, FIGURE and CULTURE in spelling. Because the first and last tiles are the same letter, ENSURE reads the same pattern from both ends of a lane.

Rhymes with ensure

All rhymes

One letter away

Change one letter, keep the rest
  • ENDURE7
  • UNSURE6
  • INSURE6

Questions people ask

What is the difference between ensure and insure?
ENSURE means to make certain that something happens. INSURE is the neighbour that most often relates to cover against loss, though the two overlap in some uses. They differ by one letter, and both are valid words.
How many points is ensure worth in Scrabble?
ENSURE scores 6 points on tiles because each of its six letters is worth 1. That is the lowest total a six-letter word can have.
What are the anagrams of ensure?
ENSURE has one anagram, ENURES. It uses the same six letters and also scores 6. The word is a rare verb form, so it is seldom useful outside puzzles.

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