adequately

American  

[ad-i-kwit-lee] / ˈæd ɪ kwɪt li /

adverb

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

• preadequately
  adverb
• quasi-adequately
  adverb
• superadequately
  adverb

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!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

adequately

That has never been adequately portrayed in theatrical features.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

No cheers this week so I can adequately spotlight what might be my jeers of the year: a taxi scam in Paris.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

“In practice, however, the facility received a large volume of patients, including patients with complex medical conditions, and the medical team was not adequately prepared to manage this population,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

AliExpress criticised the "disproportionate" fine in a statement, which "does not adequately reflect our established framework and the significant, proactive enhancements we have made".

From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026

But no site on the map was adequately specific.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green

Related Words

• appropriately
• competently
• decently
• satisfactorily
• sufficiently