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

Proper nouns will suffice: The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, Sacre-Coeur, Musée Rodin, Centre Pompidou, Saint-Germain, the Seine (at dusk). — Condé Nast Traveler, "The Best Cities in the World: 2018 Readers' Choice Awards," 9 Oct. 2018 That’s because a bag that looks and performs great on a kite-surfing holiday won’t usually suffice for an office commute or trips to the gym. — Thomas Ricker, The Verge, "‘The world’s most versatile waterproof backpack’ review," 20 Nov. 2018 If the subscription series didn’t have one more week to run, the clamorous reception accorded the maestro and his superstar soloist, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, would have sufficed perfectly well to consign the 2017-18 season to the history books. — John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, "Riccardo Muti and Yo-Yo Ma turn up the heat in an all-Russian program," 15 June 2018 On the night Georgia got closer to winning it all than any time since 1980, anything except disaster would have sufficed. — Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, "Georgia had Alabama and let it slip away; Bulldogs' breakthrough moment delayed again," 9 Jan. 2018 For example, a larger person who is running 7-minute miles in 80-degree heat might need 2 liters of water an hour, versus a smaller person running 10-minute miles in mild conditions might suffice with a half liter. — Laura Schwecherl, SELF, "The First-Time Marathoner's Guide to Fuel and Hydration for Your Marathon Training," 6 Oct. 2018 But mostly, American Gods seems content to just show off all the returning players from season one, which will have to suffice as a tide me over for fans for now. — Andrew Liptak, The Verge, "A storm is coming in American Gods’ new season two trailer," 5 Oct. 2018 Any amount of foam less than half the surface could suffice with 1 teaspoon of butter. — House Beautiful, "Strawberry Jam Recipe from Kitchen of the Year," 20 July 2012 But anyway, lots of simmering anxiety at the company, suffice to say, and the New York Times article about Andy Rubin was a major reckoning moment for the culture building upon all this anxiety. — Shirin Ghaffary, Recode, "After 20,000 workers walked out, Google said it got the message. The workers disagree.," 21 Nov. 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.

History and Etymology for suffice

Middle English suffisen, sufficen "to be adequate, be capable," borrowed from Anglo-French suffis-, stem of suffire "to be sufficient for, be adequate," Latinization of Old French sofire, soufire, going back to Vulgar Latin *suffīcere, alteration (with ī from verbs such as dīcere "to say") of Latin sufficere "to provide, appoint, have enough strength or capacity, be adequate," from suf-, assimilated form of sub- sub- + facere "to make, do" — more at fact