adequate

adjective ad·e·quate \ˈa-di-kwət\

: enough for some need or requirement

: good enough : of a quality that is good or acceptable : of a quality that is acceptable but not better than acceptable

Full Definition of ADEQUATE

: sufficient for a specific requirement <adequate taxation of goods>; also : barely sufficient or satisfactory <her first performance was merely adequate>

: lawfully and reasonably sufficient <adequate grounds for a lawsuit>

— ad·e·quate·ly adverb

— ad·e·quate·ness noun

See adequate defined for English-language learners

See adequate defined for kids

Examples of ADEQUATE

Then, during the spring and summer, allow adequate recovery by taking one or two days off the bike each week and scaling back the intensity of your rides one week out of every month. —Selene Yeager, Bicycling, January/February 2008
… they are adequate for almost any computing need. —Michael Meyer, Newsweek, 26 Oct. 1998
… the government would have to bail out any bidder with less adequate resources … —The Economist, 30 Aug.-5 Sept. 1986
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Origin of ADEQUATE

Latin adaequatus, past participle of adaequare to make equal, from ad- + aequare to equal — more at equable

First Known Use: circa 1617

Related to ADEQUATE

Synonyms: acceptable, all right, decent, fairish, fine, good, OK (or okay), passable, respectable, satisfactory, serviceable, tolerable, up to snuff

Antonyms: deficient, inadequate, insufficient, lacking, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, wanting

Synonym Discussion of ADEQUATE

sufficient, enough, adequate, competent mean being what is necessary or desirable. sufficient suggests a close meeting of a need <sufficient savings>. enough is less exact in suggestion than sufficient <do you have enough food?>. adequate may imply barely meeting a requirement <the service was adequate>. competent suggests measuring up to all requirements without question or being adequately adapted to an end <had no competent notion of what was going on>.

ADEQUATE Defined for Kids