Synonyms

adequately

American

[ad-i-kwit-lee] / ˈæd ɪ kwɪt li /

adverb

in a way that is sufficient, suitable, effective, or appropriate.

The professor’s vague response failed to adequately answer our questions.
The clinic needs to be appropriately staffed with permanently employed and adequately trained personnel.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of adequately

adequate ( def. ) + -ly

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!

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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.

She says Musk is attempting to position himself as the right person to adequately and fairly represent the interests of the OpenAI non-profit.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

Refiners have to follow very precise sets of specifications for jet fuel, and also have to make sure the product is completely segregated from other derivatives and adequately stored.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 28, 2026

In her statement, Cherfilus-McCormick said the panel did not allow her lawyer to adequately prepare her defence and launched the investigation while she was fighting a criminal case, which ultimately "prevented me from defending myself".

From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026

The board acknowledged that it had fallen short on its diversity and inclusion goals, adding that it did not adequately anticipate “the impact of such an incident in a live event environment.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

Leo hoped he’d given everybody the right gadgets and adequately explained what all the buttons did.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023