Meaning & use
sense of security
Last updated
Meanings
phrasesingular
a feeling that you are safe and that nothing bad will happen to you.
Grammar: Usually used with 'a' or 'the'; it names one feeling, so it is not used in the plural in this sense.
Patterns
- a sense of security
- give someone a sense of security
- a sense of security about something
- lose your sense of security
After the burglary, she no longer had a sense of security in her own home.
A steady job and close friends gave him a real sense of security.
Children need routine because it builds a sense of security.
phrasesingular
a feeling of being protected from danger, especially financial or physical risk.
Grammar: Often follows verbs like 'provide', 'create' or 'restore', and can be modified by 'financial', 'emotional' or 'false'.
Patterns
- provide a sense of security
- financial sense of security
- restore someone's sense of security
- a false sense of security
The savings account gave her a sense of security in case of an emergency.
Insurance provides a sense of security for families.
Locking the door every night gives me a sense of security.
Common combinations
- a false sense of security
- The quiet streets gave tourists a false sense of security.
- give someone a sense of security
- Her calm voice gave the passengers a sense of security.
- a strong sense of security
- He has a strong sense of security now that he owns his own house.
- provide a sense of security
- The new law is meant to provide a sense of security for workers.
- lose your sense of security
- After the accident, she lost her sense of security on the road.
- emotional sense of security
- Children develop an emotional sense of security when they are loved.
Synonyms and how they differ
- feeling of safety
- Very close in meaning, but it describes the physical state of being safe more than the inner feeling.
- reassurance
- This means comfort that removes doubt or fear; it often comes from another person, while a sense of security can be your own steady feeling.
- confidence
- Confidence is belief in your own ability; a sense of security is about being safe from harm or risk, not about skill.
Opposites
Word family
- secure adjective
- Safe and protected from danger or risk.
- security noun
- The state of being safe, or the things done to keep people safe.
- securely adverb
- In a way that is safe or firmly fixed.
- insecurity noun
- A lack of safety, or a feeling of not being good enough.
- insecurity noun
- A lack of safety, or a feeling of not being good enough.
Commonly confused: sense of security or sense of humor? sense of security or safety?
sense of security vs sense of humor
A different fixed phrase meaning the ability to find things funny; it has the same 'sense of' pattern but a completely different meaning.
sense of security vs safety
Safety is the real condition of being protected; a sense of security is the feeling of being protected, which may or may not match reality.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'sense of security' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'A sense of security' means a feeling of being safe, so a new lock giving the family that feeling fits perfectly. Option 2 confuses it with 'confidence' about a skill; options 3 and 4 are not grammatical uses of the phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sense of security”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.