adequately

American  

[ad-i-kwit-lee] / ˈæd ɪ kwɪt li /

adverb

1. in a way that is sufficient, suitable, effective, or appropriate.

   The professor’s vague response failed to adequately answer our questions.

   The clinic needs to be appropriately staffed with permanently employed and adequately trained personnel.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• superadequately
  adverb
• quasi-adequately
  adverb
• preadequately
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of adequately

adequate ( def. ) + -ly

Explanation

Something has been done adequately when basic requirements are fulfilled. Passing your driver's test probably means you parallel parked adequately; if not, you may have knocked over some cones. The adverb adequately is a synonym for sufficiently, or suitably. If you've adequately fulfilled your course requirements, you're probably neither the best nor the worst student in the class. But you've definitely done well enough that you can pass — so doing something adequately is generally a positive thing, unless you're an overachiever, in which case you might not like that description at all!

Related Words

• appropriately
• competently
• decently
• satisfactorily
• sufficiently