Veilig

safe, secure Iconspeaker_3
[adverb/adjective]
[vei-lig]

"Veilig" denotes a situation that is free from danger. It’s the opposite of "gevaarlijk" ("dangerous"), or the more informal word with the same meaning "link". The corresponding noun is "veiligheid" ("safety"). As in English, you especially come across the word when people refer to traffic, travel advice to certain countries, or sex.

Examples:
– "Hij voelde zich niet veilig op dat verlaten treinstation."  Veilig
("He didn’t feel safe at that abandoned train station.")

– "De soldaten zijn weer veilig (en wel) thuisgekomen." 
("The soldiers have returned home safe (and sound).")

– "Het is niet heel veilig om door Yemen te reizen, omdat er geregeld mensen worden ontvoerd." 
("It’s not so safe to travel through Yemen, since people are kidnapped there frequently.")

– "Veiligheid boven alles! Maak alstublieft uw veiligheidsriem vast." 
("Safety first! Please fasten your seat belt.")

– "Hij heeft zijn hele werkend leven geld opzij gezet om zijn pensioen veilig te stellen." 
("He has put aside money his entire working life to secure his pension.")

– "Veilig Verkeer Nederland is een organisatie die zich richt op veiligheid op de weg." 
("Safe Traffic Netherlands is an organisation that aims for road safety.")

– "Je kunt vervelende SOA’s oplopen door onveilige seks." 
("You can get nasty STD’s through unsafe sex." Note that SOA abbreviates ‘Seksueel Overdraagbare Aandoeningen’, corresponding to ‘Sexually Transmittable Diseases’.)

Related words:
– Onveilig: unsafe, dangerous [adverb/adjective].
– Gevaarlijk: dangerous [adverb/adjective].
– Veiligheid: safety [noun] [de veiligheid, <no plural>].
– Veilig stellen: to secure [verb] [stelde veilig, heeft veilig gesteld].

One thought on “Veilig

  1. The funny thing is ‘security’ and ‘zekerheid’ can be mixed up. In Belgium we refer to ‘sociale zekerheid’, whereas that would normally be certainty, not safety or security.
    But German has one word for both…

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