adequate

adequate
adjective
1 an adequate amount is enough for a particular purpose: The research cannot be completed without adequate funding.
(+ for): Are the parking facilities adequate for fifty cars?
2 good enough in quality for a particular purpose or activity: Without the proper resources the department cannot do an adequate job. | adequate to do sth: His explanation did not seem adequate to account for what had happened.
3 fairly good but not excellent: Her performance was adequate but lacked originality.
- adequately adverb: She wasn't adequately insured. - adequacy noun (U) USAGE NOTE: ADEQUATE WORD CHOICE: adequate, sufficient, enough, good enough,satisfactory, (will) do Adequate and sufficient are both more formal than enough, but all three can be used to talk about quantity: Will you have enough/sufficient/adequate money for the trip? However, adequate often sounds a little negative, suggesting that the amount is only just enough: The water supply here is adequate/sufficient. If you want to say that the quality of something is enough, you use good enough or satisfactory: "I'm afraid your work isn't good enough/satisfactory." Satisfactory is a more formal word. Adequate can be used to talk about both quality and quantity together, especially with uncountable nouns. For example, if you ask: Is the food adequate? you might be asking whether there is enough in amount or whether it is good enough. However, with a plural countable noun the quality meaning is more likely: adequate resources/training/support etc In spoken English people often use do (but not in progressive forms) to talk about something being enough in either of these ways: "Do you have enough money?" "It should do" (=it should be enough). | It's not much but it'll have to do.

Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.

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  • adequate — ad·e·quate adj: lawfully and reasonably sufficient adequate grounds for a lawsuit Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. adequate …   Law dictionary

  • adequate — 1. In its meaning ‘proportionate to the requirements’, sufficient, adequate is most commonly used without a complement (There is an adequate supply of food in the flooded area). When it has one, this is either for or to (Their earnings are… …   Modern English usage

  • adequate — UK US /ˈædɪkwət/ adjective ► enough or good enough for a particular purpose: »Staff did not receive adequate training. adequate to do sth »Our laws must be adequate to protect our citizens. adequate for sth »This printer should be perfectly… …   Financial and business terms

  • Adequate — Ad e*quate, v. t. [See {Adequate}, a.] 1. To equalize; to make adequate. [R.] Fotherby. [1913 Webster] 2. To equal. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] It [is] an impossibility for any creature to adequate God in his eternity. Shelford. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Adequate — Ad e*quate, a. [L. adaequatus, p. p. of adaequare to make equal to; ad + aequare to make equal, aequus equal. See {Equal}.] Equal to some requirement; proportionate, or correspondent; fully sufficient; as, powers adequate to a great work; an… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • adequate — adequate; in·adequate; …   English syllables

  • adequate — (adj.) 1610s, from L. adaequatus equalized, pp. of adaequare to make equal to, from ad to (see AD (Cf. ad )) + aequare make level, from aequus (see EQUAL (Cf. equal)). The sense is of being equal to what is required. Related …   Etymology dictionary

  • adequate — [adj] enough, able acceptable, all right, capable, comfortable, commensurate, competent, decent, equal, fair, passable, requisite, satisfactory, sufficient, sufficing, suitable, tolerable, unexceptional, unobjectionable; concepts 533,558 Ant.… …   New thesaurus

  • adequate — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ satisfactory or acceptable. DERIVATIVES adequacy noun adequately adverb. ORIGIN from Latin adaequare make equal to …   English terms dictionary

  • adequate — [ad′i kwət] adj. [L adaequatus, pp. of adaequare < ad , to + aequare, to make equal < aequus, level, equal] 1. enough or good enough for what is required or needed; sufficient; suitable 2. barely satisfactory; acceptable but not remarkable… …   English World dictionary

  • adequate — 01. Too many children in this country are leaving home in the morning without having eaten an [adequate] meal. 02. Local parents are concerned over the [adequacy] of the school s program for children with special needs. 03. The equipment at the… …   Grammatical examples in English

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