adequately
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of adequately
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!
Vocabulary lists containing adequately
The Giver
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Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie
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Word Generation Weekly - Series 3
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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.
That has never been adequately portrayed in theatrical features.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Prof Christl Donnelly and Dr Maria Christodoulou of Oxford University said "further independent, randomised, and adequately controlled research" would need to be undertaken before any stronger conclusions could be drawn about Oxevision.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
In response, Hugo Boss’s managing supervisory boards unanimously recommended that shareholders reject the offer, saying the bid didn’t adequately value its standalone prospects and seemed designed to enable Frasers to increase its shareholding beyond 30%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
The platform also did not "adequately" stop the sale of counterfeit products because its mandatory "brand authorisation" system "proved ineffective and understaffed. Therefore, traders easily bypassed this", the EU found.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
There was a silence, during which I struggled for language to adequately express what I thought of this goofball advice.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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.
