Synonyms

adequately

American

[ad-i-kwit-lee] / ˈæd ɪ kwɪt li /

adverb

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

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!

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Vocabulary lists containing adequately

The Giver

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Adequately treating the sewage on both sides of the border would cost an estimated $1 billion; Congress has appropriated more than $300 million so far.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026

Adequately addressing homelessness requires action on a broad front, including support for multiple forms of housing and focused social services and treatment.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 7, 2024

Adequately addressing these issues will take time – and corners must not be cut when arriving at a solution.

From Salon • May 31, 2023

Adequately fund needed updates to our voting system.

From Slate • Aug. 1, 2018

Adequately to observe the decay of the vassalage of women, we must investigate the story of their rights in all its forms; and the position of women in marriage will next occupy our attention.

From A Short History of Women's Rights From the Days of Augustus to the Present Time. with Special Reference to England and the United States. Second Edition Revised, With Additions. by Hecker, Eugene Arthur

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023