Adequate

/ˈæd.ə.kwɪt/ · adjective

Meaning

Equal to or fulfilling some requirement..

Definitions by Sense

1. Equal to or fulfilling some requirement.
2. A sufficient amount of; enough.
3. (obsolete) To equalize; to make adequate.
4. (obsolete) To equal.

Example Sentences

powers adequate to a great work

an adequate definition

1853, Thomas De Quincey, Autobiographic Sketches in Narrative and Miscellaneous Papers, Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, “Dublin,” p. 254, […] in those days, Ireland had no adequate champion; the Hoods and the Grattans were not up to the mark.

Proportion therefore your Clothes to your bodies, and let them be proper for your persons. […] Agreeableness […] ought to be exact, and adequate both to age, person and condition, avoiding extremities on both sides, being neither too much out, nor in the fashions.

Her legal allowance was not adequate to her fortune, nor sufficient for her comfortable maintenance […]

All day as I drove upon my round I turned over the case in my mind, and found no explanation which appeared to me to be adequate.

John was a perfectly adequate academic. A perfectly adequate academic but not a notable teacher.

We have adequate money for the journey.

Synonyms for adequate

Antonyms for adequate

Related Words

Word Forms

• more adequate
• most adequate
• adæquate
• adequates
• adequating
• adequated

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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