sufficient

adjective

suf·​fi·​cient sə-ˈfi-shənt 

1

a

: enough to meet the needs of a situation or a proposed end

sufficient provisions for a month

b

: being a sufficient condition

2

archaic : qualified, competent

sufficiently adverb

Choose the Right Synonym for sufficient

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 sufficient in a Sentence

Considering that John Adams was notoriously insecure about his own place in history, he surely would have enjoyed his current renown. He and Abigail get pride of place in the family crypt, down a winding staircase in the church basement. On her plaque in the crypt, she is described as a "model of domestic worth," as though she were a particularly charming chifforobe, and not a woman who survived a troubled marriage with sufficient courage that both houses of Congress adjourned upon hearing of her death. —Charles P. Pierce, Boston Globe Magazine, 26 July 2009

Because canines are, for the most part, unable to naturally manufacture sufficient vitamins to meet their daily requirements, a dog's routinely consumed meals, with some exceptions, must be augmented with them during the manufacturing process. —Tom Ewing, Dog Watch, February 2009

And since this policy is usually accompanied by a pledge to provide sufficient scholarship funds to admitted applicants who cannot afford the full cost (around $45,000 in the Ivy League today), it is an expensive policy. —Andrew Delbanco, New York Review of Books, 29 Mar. 2007

The result was a magnificent example of evidence overkill—the first set of prints alone was sufficient to match the gangbanger to a set in the national Automated Fingerprint Identification System database. —Jessica Snyder Sachs, Popular Science, March 2004

A brisk walk is sufficient to raise your heart rate.

There must be sufficient funds in your bank account to cover the check.

Her explanation was not sufficient to satisfy the police.

Recent Examples on the Web

Tapping Others’ Wisdom Leaders cannot have sufficient expertise to address the myriad issues that arise in a complex organization. —Gregory Crawford, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024

At the same time, the federal government didn’t come to Chicago’s rescue with sufficient aid or border policy reforms as hordes of families camped at police stations soared. —Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 1 Dec. 2024

If the presence of the reigning Super Bowl champs (and, presumably, the world’s most famous football fan) isn’t sufficient to help Amazon build on last season’s deliveries, the year-over-year boost in the Thursday Night Football numbers suggests that the Black Friday ad buys are money well spent. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 29 Nov. 2024

Former White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove is imploring President-elect Donald Trump to select competent deputy directors to assist Cabinet nominees who have not held sufficient government titles before assuming their new roles. —Mabinty Quarshie, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 28 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English sufficiant, sufficient, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French suffisant, sufficient, in part from present participle of suffire "to suffice," in part borrowed from Latin sufficient-, sufficiens, from present participle of sufficere "to have enough strength or capacity, be adequate" — more at suffice

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing sufficient

• self-sufficient
• sufficient condition

Kids Definition

sufficient

adjective

suf·​fi·​cient sə-ˈfish-ənt 

: enough to achieve a goal or fill a need

sufficiently adverb

Legal Definition

sufficient

adjective

suf·​fi·​cient

: enough to meet the needs under the law of a situation or a proposed end

sufficiently adverb