suffice

suf·fice

verb \sə-ˈfīs also -ˈfīz\

suf·ficedsuf·fic·ing

Definition of SUFFICE

intransitive verb

1

: to meet or satisfy a need : be sufficient <a brief note will suffice> —often used with an impersonal it <suffice it to say that they are dedicated, serious personalities — Cheryl Aldridge>

2

: to be competent or capable

transitive verb

: to be enough for <a few more should suffice them>

— suf·fic·er noun

Examples of SUFFICE

1. No, you don't need to write a letter. A phone call will suffice.
2. Her example alone should suffice to show that anything is possible.
3. She's also decided that she can't countenance her mother, who gives Jane cash but demands that her daughter save every receipt or package to prove that she didn't spend the money on drugs. Suffice it to say, their short-lived truce is over. —Alec Klein, A Class Apart: Prodigies, Pressure, and Passion Inside One of America's Best High Schools, 2007
4. Thirteen years later, I still don't know exactly what to make of this letter. It goes without saying that a simple thank-you note, especially nearly a year late, would have sufficed. —Scott Turow, Atlantic , December 2005
5. But what of the meteoroids that come from other large objects in the solar system? To escape from Venus or the Earth, matter must be ejected at a velocity of at least seven miles a second; on Mars, three miles a second will suffice. —Donald Goldsmith, Natural History, September 2003

Origin of SUFFICE

Middle English, from Anglo-French suffis-, stem of suffire, from Latin sufficere to provide, be adequate, from sub- + facere to make, do — more at do

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to SUFFICE

Synonyms

do, serve

Related Words

answer, suit; assuage, content, quench, sate, satiate, satisfy

Rhymes with SUFFICE

advice, allspice, black ice, Brandeis, bride-price, brown rice, concise, cut ice, cut-price, deice, device, dry ice, entice, excise, fried rice, list price, make nice, no dice, off-price, on ice, pack ice, precise, shelf ice, strike price, white rice, wild rice