adjective

• 1Unlikely to stumble or slip.

  ‘tough, sure-footed ponies’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The famous hardy and sure-footed Basotho ponies can take visitors into areas not accessible by road.’
  • ‘Leaving their overnight camp by the riverbed, they turn their sure-footed local steeds toward the steep, rocky outline of the Spur.’
  • ‘Once sure-footed, their step is now a confused, uncertain stagger, like a drunk slaloming from house to house in searching for his own front door.’
  • ‘The unpaved roads into Avante are so rough, the local police use sure-footed horses on their patrols.’
  • ‘The footpath surface, rather the lack of it, can hamper even the most sure-footed of the city's pedestrians.’
  • ‘In one of the many smugly tended, overpriced noodle shops we met Bob, a guide as sure-footed as a mountain goat.’
  • ‘Like all our horses, my mount Brown is superbly fit and sure-footed.’
  • ‘The sure-footed animal was easily kept and many a child owed its life to the milk of the humble goat.’

  1. 1.1Confident and competent.
     ‘the challenges of the 1990s demand a responsible and sure-footed government’
     More example sentences

     • ‘I will shine the lantern along your path so you feel confident and sure-footed with each step you take.’
     • ‘These are sure-footed lyrics, confidently placed in their musical context, and telling their stories by phrasing just as much as the words.’
     • ‘On average, the Bush campaign has been more sure-footed, but both sides have had stumbles.’
     • ‘Let your character be more self-reliant, sure-footed, sharper.’