suffice

verb suf·fice \ sə-ˈfīs also -ˈfīz \

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

Definition of suffice

sufficed; sufficing

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

—

sufficer

noun

See suffice defined for English-language learners

See suffice defined for kids

Examples of suffice in a Sentence

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
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
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
No, you don't need to write a letter. A phone call will suffice.
Her example alone should suffice to show that anything is possible.

Recent Examples of suffice from the Web

Unfortunately, until those critical funds and resources come through, the hit Broadway spectacular will have to suffice.

— michael andor brodeur, BostonGlobe.com, "The Weekender: A marathon pre-Marathon weekend," 12 Apr. 2018
There's not a pressing need to create new chips where old designs will suffice.

— klint finley, WIRED, "Using Open Source Designs to Create More Specialized Chips," 12 Apr. 2018
But in the meantime, Waller-Bridge’s new BBC America series Killing Eve will more than suffice.

— allison p. davis, The Cut, "Cardi B’s Album Is Here! And It’s Just As Great As We Hoped," 6 Apr. 2018
An imperceptible twitching of a microscopic motor unit suffices to create an electrical discharge that is easily detected by this brain–computer interface.

— r. douglas fields, Scientific American, "Wristband Lets the Brain Control a Computer with a Thought and a Twitch," 27 Mar. 2018
And not just any random combination of vegetables will suffice.

— NBC News, "How I learned to love (or at least tolerate) vegetables," 26 Mar. 2018
Anything on the green would have sufficed, and Woods played it beyond the pin and used the slope to get the ball rolling back to 8 feet.

— Fox News, "Tiger Woods closes to within 1 shot of leader, chasing first win since 2013," 11 Mar. 2018
After two fans named Marcelo and Carlos fail to suffice, Romeo politely but comically kicks them off stage.

— richy rosario, Billboard, "Romeo Santos Kicks Off His Golden Tour With Career-Spanning Hits, a Cardi B Cameo & More: Recap," 16 Feb. 2018
But, like Noonan, Dryasdust doesn’t think this insistence on generic difference will suffice, because many readers will get their history only from this form of entertainment.

— christopher j. scalia, National Review, "Must Dramatic Art Be Historically Accurate?," 10 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'suffice.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology 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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

See Words from the same year