insufficient
[in-suh-fish-uh nt]
- not sufficient; lacking in what is necessary or required: an insufficient answer.
- deficient in force, quality, or amount; inadequate: insufficient protection.
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Origin of insufficient
Synonyms
See more synonyms for insufficient on Thesaurus.com1. inadequate, scanty, deficient.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for insufficiently
Contemporary Examples
He has since been considered increasingly politically vulnerable after Cruz attacked him as insufficiently conservative.
In response, Smith quit the party in a huff that July, trashing it as insufficiently principled on his way out the door.
In the Tea Party era, the GOP has become too revolutionary and insufficiently conservative.
Obamacare Ruling: Peter Beinart on the Favor Justice Roberts Did the RightPeter Beinart
June 28, 2012
Each of the above candidates was preemptively attacked as insufficiently conservative by some corner of the movement.
GOP Would Have Had Better Shot in 2012 With Center-Right Pols Like ChristieJohn Avlon
December 2, 2011
The police forces are understaffed, insufficiently trained, and ill-equipped.
Historical Examples
"A friend of ours did think that it is insufficiently reinsured," said Margaret.
Howards EndE. M. Forster
Another returned it insufficiently stamped, and there was fourpence to pay.
A Great ManArnold Bennett
She had been insufficiently clad in winter, too heavily clad in summer.
Mary GrayKatharine Tynan
Indeed the whole character of Jane is insufficiently presented.
A History of the French Novel, Vol. 2George Saintsbury
Of the 'Apollo' it is argued that it is insufficiently modelled.
Ave Roma Immortalis, Vol. 2Francis Marion Crawford
insufficient
- not sufficient; inadequate or deficient
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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 insufficiently
insufficient
adj.
late 14c., from Old French insufficient (14c.), from Latin insufficientem (nominative insufficiens) "insufficient," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + sufficientem (see sufficient). Originally of persons, "inadequate, unable;" of things, from late 15c. Related: Insufficiently.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
insufficient
(ĭn′sə-fĭsh′ənt)- Not sufficient.
- Incapable of proper functioning.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.