adequate

adjective

ad·​e·​quate ˈa-di-kwət 

1

: sufficient for a specific need or requirement

adequate time

an amount of money adequate to supply their needs

also : good enough : of a quality that is good or acceptable

a machine that does an adequate job

: of a quality that is acceptable but not better than acceptable

Her first performance was merely adequate.

2

: lawfully and reasonably sufficient

adequate grounds for a lawsuit

adequateness noun

Synonyms

• acceptable
• all right
• decent
• fairish
• fine
• good
• OK
• okay
• passable
• respectable
• satisfactory
• serviceable
• tolerable

Choose the Right Synonym for 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

Examples of adequate in a Sentence

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

The garden hasn't been getting adequate water.

The food was more than adequate for the six of us.

The school lunch should be adequate to meet the nutritional needs of growing children.

The machine does an adequate job.

The tent should provide adequate protection from the elements.

The quality of his work was perfectly adequate.

Your grades are adequate but I think you can do better.

The quality of his work was only adequate.

Recent Examples on the Web

But as the mental health conditions among youth have become increasingly severe following the COVID-19 pandemic, more families are turning to desperate measures to find adequate care for their children. —Michaela Ramm, USA Today, 22 Apr. 2025

Low-stress jobs typically minimize these factors while still providing meaningful work and adequate compensation. —Caroline Castrillon, Forbes.com, 21 Apr. 2025

Attorneys for Venezuelan migrants who fear they will be deported to a Salvadoran prison have asked the Supreme Court to review the legality of the move, arguing the Trump administration has not complied with an earlier order requiring they be given adequate time to contest their deportation. —Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 21 Apr. 2025

Actors Are Irreplaceable Yes, the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes drew a necessary line in the sand against the unrestricted AI use of an actor’s performance by studios without adequate compensation per use. —Victoria Bousis, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin adaequātus, past participle of adaequāre "to equalize, put on an equal footing," from ad- ad- + aequāre "to make level, equalize" — more at equate

First Known Use

circa 1617, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for adequate

• inadequate

Kids Definition

adequate

adjective

ad·​e·​quate ˈad-i-kwət 

1

: suitable or enough for a requirement

food and water adequate for six people

2

: good enough

your grades are barely adequate

adequately adverb

adequateness noun

Legal Definition

adequate

adjective

ad·​e·​quate

: lawfully and reasonably sufficient

adequate grounds for a lawsuit