inadequate
[in-ad-i-kwit]
- not adequate or sufficient; inept or unsuitable.
- Psychiatry. ineffectual in response to emotional, social, intellectual, and physical demands in the absence of any obvious mental or physical deficiency.
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Origin of inadequate
Synonyms
See more synonyms for inadequate on Thesaurus.com1. inapt, incompetent; incommensurate; defective, imperfect, incomplete.
Antonyms
1. sufficient.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for inadequately
Contemporary Examples
I don't think that answer is obvious, even if we concede that the Bangladeshi government is inadequately responsive.
The aggregate of individual decisions, each of which is rational, yields an inadequately trained workforce.
Obama has stabilized the economy and revived it, inadequately.
In fact they only serve to make clear how inadequately I appreciated the moment when it was here.
I replied honestly but inadequately, feeling momentarily disoriented myself.
Historical Examples
I realise how vague is this expression and how inadequately it explains my meaning.
BalthasarAnatole France
"You—you should have a law against you," he answered bitterly and inadequately.
Greener Than You ThinkWard Moore
With what glib facility they describe, but how inadequately they convey.
The Friendly Road(AKA David Grayson) Ray Stannard Baker
The men were without instruction, and inadequately armed and equipped.
Destruction and Reconstruction:Richard Taylor
He seems to have appreciated but inadequately the significance of the medical evidence.
The Big Bow MysteryI. Zangwill
inadequate
- not adequate; insufficient
- not capable or competent; lacking
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for inadequately
inadequate
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper