adequate
Americanadjective
-
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
-
barely sufficient or suitable.
Being adequate is not good enough.
-
Law. reasonably sufficient for starting legal action.
adequate grounds.
adjective
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
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.
“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
Core to that agreement is that the public be left with adequate access to food and water, and there can be no strikes to starve the population or force the displacement of civilians.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 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
“Not too short, not too long. Our longevity will be adequate, not cut off too soon, not so long we become a burden.”
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
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.
