adequate

American  

[ad-i-kwit] / ˈæd ɪ kwɪt /

adjective

1. as much or as good as necessary for some requirement or purpose; fully sufficient, suitable, or fit (often followed by to orfor ).

   This car is adequate to our needs.

   They’ll provide adequate food for fifty people.

   Synonyms:

   capable, enough, sufficient, competent, satisfactory

2. barely sufficient or suitable.

   Being adequate is not good enough.

3. Law. reasonably sufficient for starting legal action.

   adequate grounds.

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adequate British  

/ ˈædɪkwəsɪ, ˈædɪkwɪt /

adjective

1. able to fulfil a need or requirement without being abundant, outstanding, etc

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Other Word Forms

• adequacy noun
• adequately adverb
• adequateness noun
• preadequate adjective
• preadequateness noun
• quasi-adequate adjective
• superadequate adjective
• superadequateness noun

Etymology

Origin of adequate

First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin adaequātus “matched” (past participle of adaequāre ); ad-, equal, -ate ¹

Explanation

When you want to say that something is enough or good enough for a particular need, use the adjective adequate. You might have an adequate amount of flour for a batch of pancakes, but not a lot extra. Adequate can also describe something that is acceptable or satisfactory, but not any better than that. You might say that a student's grades are adequate but need improvement. This word is from Latin adaequāre"to make equal," from the prefix ad- plus aequare "to equal."

Example Sentences

“We are advocating for more appropriate funding to ensure adequate access as well as the stability and sustainability of a program relied on by more than half of the seniors in this country.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026

Insurers waged an extensive lobbying campaign to push up the final rates, warning that seniors would face higher costs and stingier benefits if federal payments weren’t adequate.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

About one-third of students screened are unable to read the eye chart, but very few of those kids have adequate glasses.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2026

"As well as impacting assessment of the quality of education, disrupted inspections have also impacted evaluation of child protection arrangements, increasing the risk that vulnerable pupils were not receiving adequate support."

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

As it turned out, Enstice had a history of prematurely and incorrectly declaring deaths to be homicides without adequate supporting evidence.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Related Words

• acceptable
• capable
• competent
• decent
• fair
• satisfactory
• sufficient
• suitable
• tolerable