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Definition of enoughnext
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enough

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adjective

enough

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noun

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective enough contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of enough are adequate, competent, and sufficient. While all these words mean "being what is necessary or desirable," enough is less exact in suggestion than sufficient.

do you have enough food?

When would adequate be a good substitute for enough?

Although the words adequate and enough have much in common, adequate may imply barely meeting a requirement.

the service was adequate

When is it sensible to use competent instead of enough?

The words competent and enough can be used in similar contexts, but 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

When is sufficient a more appropriate choice than enough?

The synonyms sufficient and enough are sometimes interchangeable, but sufficient suggests a close meeting of a need.

sufficient savings

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of enough
Adverb
The women said the boat drifted off course, and no ships were near enough to hear their distress calls. — CBS News, 3 Nov. 2026 However, the law is broad enough that most employers should review their current practices. — Steven M. Frederick, Hartford Courant, 3 Nov. 2026
Adjective
Although several races have yet to be called as of Wednesday morning, enough elections are settled for the Democrats to be assured of winning both the House and Senate. — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 4 Nov. 2026 That was more than enough for The Associated Press to declare Biss the winner. — Russell Lissau, Chicago Tribune, 4 Nov. 2026
Noun
Jackson continued his strategy of tying Collins to Trump, accusing her of not doing enough to end the Iran war and overturn the president’s tariffs. — Jared Gans, The Hill, 14 Oct. 2026 In music class, all the students are made to sing a song in front of their peers, because being 15 isn’t traumatizing enough already. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 12 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for enough
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enough
Adverb
  • There’s no slicing and dicing without a sufficiently sharp edge.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2026
  • According to The Guardian, Lett allowed a BBC subpoena directed to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort to proceed Thursday, finding the club sufficiently connected to Trump’s professional activities to fall within the scope of discovery.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2026
Adverb
  • A lot of debris was thrown across a pretty significant distance as a result of this crash, DeSantis said.
    — Sofia Saric, Miami Herald, 1 Nov. 2026
  • But then, the work generally has to be pretty good in order to live inside a story; critique trumps narrative.
    — Kristian Vistrup Madsen, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2026
Adverb
  • There’s nothing quite like it in Philadelphia—and yet the 18th-century historic space feels right at home in the neighborhood.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Nov. 2026
  • But this matchup didn’t quite live up to the hype after Doncic continued his early season dominance in the Lakers’ 138-117 win.
    — Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2026
Adjective
  • Narrow metal electrodes placed on an insulating layer are sufficient to apply voltage to a graphene sheet and create potential barriers to electron and hole flow.
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Success in each case hinged on having enough public engagement to drive voter turnout to levels sufficient that the people could overcome the advantages of big money, Big Tech and entrenched power.
    — Elizabeth Shackelford, Chicago Tribune, 30 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Eco effort Water sufficiency—including water recycling for irrigation in their treatment plant—in a notoriously dry part of the island is a notable part of the resort’s sustainability efforts.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Rex Frazier, a former deputy commissioner at the California Department of Insurance, said that in the situation that the insurers find themselves, the state regulator will be looking at a company’s capital sufficiency.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2026
Adverb
  • The steps and skills required to adequately shop for groceries or pick out the right kindergarten for a child are broad and vague.
    — Lisa Eadicicco, CNN Money, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Zimmern questioned whether the results adequately reflected differences among salmon producers worldwide.
    — Peter Burke, FOXNews.com, 1 Nov. 2026
Adverb
  • If this sort of shotgun approach to local targeting is a relatively unfamiliar phenomenon in political circles, football fans have long grown used to seeing ads for things that are essentially irrelevant to their own interests.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 30 Oct. 2026
  • These in turn parse into approximately 190,512 possible combinations of speech and action, so that individual museumgoers can have relatively unique encounters with the artist-as-revenant.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Oct. 2026
Adverb
  • More retreat than resort, the 17-room lodge leans into its eco-conscious cred, maximizing the natural beauty of the surroundings and bringing those elements indoors to create a fully restorative experience.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Bocken says the long-term ambition is to go fully autonomous.
    — Edd Gent, IEEE Spectrum, 29 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Enough.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enough. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026.

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