sufficient

adjective

suf·fi·cient | \sə-ˈfi-shənt

Definition of sufficient

1a : 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

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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

Four to six plants are sufficient for the average-sized family. — The Editors, Good Housekeeping, "How to Grow Hundreds of Ground Cherries," 31 July 2018 Cabañas and his team claimed there wasn't sufficient information to issue an evacuation warning based on bulletins sent early Sunday by Guatemala's National Seismological Volcanic and Meteorological Institute. — Dakin Andone, CNN, "Head of Guatemala's disaster agency facing calls to resign after Fuego eruption," 7 June 2018 People with this genetic disease lack sufficient levels of phosphate, a mineral needed in bone formation, in their bodies. — Shari Rudavsky, Indianapolis Star, "From lab to pharmacy: IU researchers' discovery leads to new drug to treat rare bone disease," 18 May 2018 Whether those additions are sufficient to improve Orlando’s offense remains up for debate, of course. — Josh Robbins, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Magic likely done adding through free agency this summer, Weltman says," 10 July 2018 Board of Elections Director Sherry Poland has not yet said whether the reports are now sufficient. — Sharon Coolidge, Cincinnati.com, "At last, some answers about Cincinnati Councilman Jeff Pastor's campaign finances," 8 July 2018 Experts say casual exposure to the sun — a short walk down the street or running to catch a bus, for example — is generally sufficient. — NBC News, "Vitamin D may lower colon cancer risk, especially in women, study finds," 14 June 2018 And a manager is rarely stuck without sufficient time to get the right pitcher warm. — New York Times, "A Yankees Blowout Rooted in a Single Impossible Decision," 11 July 2018 That left room for one free agent — still not sufficient to address wing depth. — Vince Ellis, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit Pistons addition of Glenn Robinson III bolsters wing depth," 2 July 2018

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