adequately

[ad-i-kwit-lee]

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.

Other Word Forms

• preadequately adverb
• quasi-adequately adverb
• superadequately adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of adequately¹

adequate ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

The bankruptcy has amplified concerns that corporate credit markets have gotten too frothy and don’t adequately reflect risks to borrowers.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Stars, in particular, will leave a company if not compensated adequately, he says.

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Others may object to the union’s politics or feel the union doesn’t adequately represent them.

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The projects terminated last week did not “adequately advance the nation’s energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars,” the Energy Department said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

An investigation later found that the anti-lock brakes on Sutherland's 12-year-old car were not working properly and the battery was not adequately secured.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• appropriately 
• competently 
• decently www.thesaurus.com
• satisfactorily www.thesaurus.com
• sufficiently www.thesaurus.com