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View synonyms for adequate

adequate

[ ad-i-kwit ]

adjective

  1. as much or as good as necessary for some requirement or purpose; fully sufficient, suitable, or fit (often followed by to or for ):

    This car is adequate to our needs.

    They’ll provide adequate food for fifty people.

    Synonyms: capable, enough, sufficient, competent, satisfactory

  2. barely sufficient or suitable:

    Being adequate is not good enough.

  3. Law. reasonably sufficient for starting legal action:

    adequate grounds.



adequate

/ ˈædɪkwəsɪ; ˈædɪkwɪt /

adjective

  1. able to fulfil a need or requirement without being abundant, outstanding, etc
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • ˈadequately, adverb
  • adequacy, noun
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Other Words From

  • ad·e·quate·ly adverb
  • ad·e·quate·ness noun
  • pre·ad·e·quate adjective
  • pre·ad·e·quate·ness noun
  • qua·si-ad·e·quate adjective
  • su·per·ad·e·quate adjective
  • su·per·ad·e·quate·ness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of adequate1

First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin adaequātus “matched” (past participle of adaequāre ); ad-, equal, -ate 1
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Word History and Origins

Origin of adequate1

C17: from Latin adaequāre to equalize, from ad- to + aequus equal
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Example Sentences

Without adequate knowledge of analytics, your marketing won’t work because you won’t know what worked and what didn’t work.

Three trim levels are all powered by a new four-cylinder, 149-hp engine that is adequate—but not exactly thrilling.

The three years that had elapsed since Stewart first came forward made it impossible to mount an adequate defense, he argued.

He also said inspectors lack adequate personal protective equipment for increased facility visits.

Those studies are either planned or ongoing, though recruiting adequate numbers of people has been challenging.

“The government failed to show that it had adequate basis for the certification,” he wrote in August.

“I spent about a year criticizing Hillary Clinton for not providing adequate security for Benghazi,” he recalled.

But two years after that, UFW walked away from its negotiations with Gerawan, unable to muster adequate worker support.

“As long as they have an adequate body weight, most women will ovulate just fine, even on marathon weekend,” he says.

The airline industry has failed to give an adequate answer to that.

Judged from this point of view only, the elasticity provided by the new law is doubtless adequate.

First, how about the expansibility needed to supply adequate funds for crop-moving?

Adequate conception of the extent, the variety, the excellence of the works of Art here heaped together is impossible.

In one sense, then, the new issue has adequate expansibility for ordinary needs.

Outsiders lack adequate motives for sending the notes home; issuers lack adequate motives for calling them home.

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adequacyadequately