suffice

verb

suf·fice | \sə-ˈfīs also -ˈfīz

sufficed; sufficing

Definition of suffice

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

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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 on the Web

The reactions, suffice to say, have been coming in hot and fast on social media, with responses ranging from everything including how great Jenner looks to wondering whether this means injections are dead or not. — Lindsay Schallon, Glamour, "Kylie Jenner Reveals She Got Rid of Her Lip Filler," 9 July 2018 This titanic battle between two teams desperate for three points will surely have plenty of drama, as each club will know that only a win will suffice in their efforts to escape relegation to the Championship. — SI.com, "Swansea vs Southampton Preview: Key Battle, Team News, Prediction & More," 7 May 2018 And no need to stress over finding a date because a copy of a favorite novel to donate to the Y2Y Homeless Shelter in Harvard Square will suffice. — Sophie Cannon, BostonGlobe.com, "Reader prom takes a novel approach to helping others," 14 Apr. 2018 If all that didn't suffice, the two American women are the U.S. Open finalists from last September: Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens, neither beyond the fourth round here before. — Chuck Culpepper, chicagotribune.com, "The lesson at French Open after Marco Cecchinato stuns Novak Djokovic: 'I don't understand nothing'," 5 June 2018 The ingredient amounts aren't specific, but a few slices of each fruit and a couple of mint springs should suffice. — Sam Dangremond, Town & Country, "How To Make A Pimm's Cup," 2 June 2017 But as the Supreme Court has explained, the mere fact that statutory language could plausibly apply to extraterritorial conduct does not suffice to overcome the presumption against extraterritoriality. — Ashby Jones, WSJ, "Judge Brett Kavanaugh: In His Own Words," 9 July 2018 All of us have heard how firms need a gaggle of math and data science PhDs to ride the machine learning wave, but that may not suffice. — Aaron Pressman, Fortune, "Data Sheet—What AI Will Do to the Financial System," 31 May 2018 Enzo’s draught and beer selection more than suffices. — Lauren Delgado, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Enzo's Hideaway offers Italian fare paired with prohibition-style cocktails," 14 July 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.