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
Etymology
Origin of adequate
First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin adaequātus “matched” (past participle of adaequāre ); see 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."
Vocabulary lists containing adequate
Academic Vocabulary Toolkit 1, Words 1-10
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "A"
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List 5
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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.
“We haven’t yet, but we’re very hopeful that that’s coming soon,” Paxton told Loesch when she asked if he was getting adequate funding from GOP groups.
From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026
The flight attendants’ association said in its objection that while customer data might be protected, the deal lacks adequate safeguards to protect information about the attendants who worked for the defunct airline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
“It’s protecting our water, our EMS, our roads. Also protecting our county by making sure that our county has adequate legal representation when sitting across the table and negotiating with companies like SpaceX.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
“To allow stakeholders adequate time to consider the impact of these potential changes, we believe that it is in the public interest to grant interested parties additional time to provide comments.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Gentle to the clumsy, girl-voiced boys whom he trained to be average, to be adequate, as he hit the soft fungoes to the outfield green.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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.
