sincere

B2 Topic:Describing People

US /sɪnˈsɪɹ/ UK /sɪnˈsɪə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #6135

Meanings

1

adj
Honest and truly meaning what you say or do; not pretending.

I believe he is sincere in his offer to help.
2

adj
Felt or meant truly and seriously.

She made a sincere effort to apologise.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · honest and truly meaning... earnest genuine

Opposites

insincere

Word family

Forms sincerersincerest

Derived forms oversinceresupersincereunsincere

Related forms cerealcerescrescent sincereness sincerity

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

sincere thanks
genuine, heartfelt gratitude

Adjective + noun
sincere friendship
a relationship based on genuine affection and honest goodwill

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle French sincere, from Latin sincerus (“genuine”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“together”) (whence English sam) + *ḱer- (“grow”) (whence Latin Ceres, the goddess of harvest, etymon of cereal). Not from sine (“without”) + cera (“wax”), a folk etymology; see Wikipedia page.

*sem- Proto-Indo-European sincere Middle French sincerus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing People

External links

# sincere

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /sɪnˈsɪɹ/
**IPA (UK):** /sɪnˈsɪə(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 6135

## Meanings
1. Honest and truly meaning what you say or do; not pretending.
2. Felt or meant truly and seriously.

## Examples
- I believe he is sincere in his offer to help.
- She made a sincere effort to apologise.

## Synonyms
- earnest

## Antonyms
- insincere

## Derived Forms
- oversincere
- supersincere
- unsincere

## Related Forms
- cereal
- ceres
- crescent
- sincereness
- sincerity

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *sem-
- Root: sincere
- Root: sincerus

## Etymology
From Middle French sincere, from Latin sincerus (“genuine”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“together”) (whence English sam) + *ḱer- (“grow”) (whence Latin Ceres, the goddess of harvest, etymon of cereal). Not from sine (“without”) + cera (“wax”), a folk etymology; see Wikipedia page.

## AI Etymology
Sincere is from Middle French sincere, from Latin sincerus (“genuine”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“together”) (whence English sam) + *ḱer- (“grow”) (whence Latin Ceres, the goddess of harvest, etymon of cereal). Not from sine (“without”) + cera (“wax”), a folk etymology; see Wikipedia page. Important forms in the word's history include Proto-Indo-European *sem-, Middle French sincere, Latin sincerus. In current use it includes senses such as Honest and truly meaning what you say or do; not pretending and Felt or meant truly and seriously.

## Topics
- Describing People

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