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.
The review will weigh whether the required course list adequately prepares students for UC.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
"The South African government has not adequately addressed the previously laid out concerns," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement announcing the restrictions on Tuesday.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
"People like me have been expecting this for a long time," the 62-year-old told AFP on Tuesday, saying security discussions surrounding AI have not been adequately robust.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
Her family sued a distributor of Alani Nu energy drinks, alleging their marketing targeted minors and the cans failed to adequately warn of their caffeine content.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
The CEO explained that Morgan Stanley had certain “hedges” against its subprime mortgage risk and that “the hedges didn’t perform adequately in extraordinary market condition of late October and November.”
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
