adequately
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Derived 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.
Nor does data dependence adequately acknowledge the extent to which the Fed itself shapes economic behavior through interest-rate policy and the management of its balance sheet.
From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026
The technology sector has long harvested talent from a pipeline it does not adequately fund, then wondered why the pipeline runs short.
From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026
Delta says it is adequately staffed, with 20% more pilots than in 2019.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
But in his new role as artistic director as well as performer, Alan Cumming believes it's vital the sector is adequately funded.
From BBC • May 24, 2026
The atmosphere is so thin that if Viking had landed at a high elevation there would not have been enough atmosphere to brake the descent adequately: it would have crashed.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
