adequacy
Americannoun
-
adequacies
plural
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of adequacy
First recorded in 1800–10; adequ(ate) + -acy
Explanation
Adequacy is the state of being sufficient for the purpose concerned. The meaning doesn't suggest abundance or excellence, or even more than what is absolutely necessary. Adequacy is simply the state of sufficiency. There is a current of equality running through the noun adequacy. The Latin word from which it is derived is adaequāre, "to make something equal to something else." The English word made its appearance in the early 1800s as a derivative of the adjective adequate. Adequacy means being equal to the requirements of the situation — no more, no less. Theater critic Walter Kerr once wrote this scathing review of an actor: "He has delusions of adequacy."
Vocabulary lists containing adequacy
Power Suffix: -acy
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NewJack: Guarding Sing Sing
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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.
See Examples For:
Our teeth offer another reminder that evolution prioritises adequacy over durability.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
Pulling down the models because of government intervention driven by concerns about the adequacy of safeguards was an unprecedented move for a leading U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
Paramount's lawyers have questioned the "fairness and adequacy" of the sale process this week, in a letter seen by CNBC.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025
Fourth, adequacy: Yes, the plaintiffs and their lawyers can represent this class fairly.
From Slate ● Jul. 11, 2025
He left me to my thoughts, which mainly concerned my own adequacy.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
That is odd, considering that America will continue to fund them at a cost of $4 billion a year; and given also the adequacies so painfully evident in Kunduz.
From Economist ● Oct. 8, 2015
Of course, changes in the adequacies of supplies would be taken account of on either interpretation.
From The Value of Money by Benjamin M. Anderson
Wieland.—Wieland wrote German better than any one else, and had the genuine adequacies and inadequacies of the master.
From Human, All-Too-Human, Part II by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Some discussed directly their pains, joys, adequacies, and inadequacies.
From Humanistic Nursing by Josephine G. Paterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
