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definitions

inadequate

[in-ad-i-kwit]
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adjective

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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RELATED WORDS

partially, badly, incompetently, incompletely, ineffectively, inefficiently, meagerly, partly, ineffectually, ineptly, perfunctorily, scantily

Nearby words

  1. inactive,
  2. inactive repressor,
  3. inactively,
  4. inactivity,
  5. inadequacy,
  6. inadequate personality,
  7. inadequate stimulus,
  8. inadmissible,
  9. inadvertence,
  10. inadvertency

Origin of inadequate

First recorded in 1665–75; in-3 + adequate
ANTONYMS FOR inadequate
1. sufficient.
SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR inadequate ON THESAURUS.COM
Related formsin·ad·e·quate·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for inadequately

British Dictionary definitions for inadequately

inadequate

adjective

not adequate; insufficient
not capable or competent; lacking
Derived Formsinadequacy, nouninadequately, adverb
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

adj.

1670s; see in- (1) "not, opposite of" + adequate. Related: Inadequately.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper