adequate
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
enough in quality or amount for a particular purpose.
satisfactory or acceptable in quality or quantity for a specific need or requirement.
Simple“The old heater was adequate for the small bedroom, but it couldn't warm the whole house.”
In context“The initial budget was deemed adequate for the preliminary research phase, though the board acknowledged that further funding would be required for the full-scale trial.”
UsageOften followed by the preposition 'for' or an infinitive 'to' phrase.
PitfallThe food was adequate for me. The food was adequate for my needs.While you can say something is 'adequate for' a person, it is more common and precise to say it is 'adequate for' a specific purpose or need.
SynonymsAntonyms
adequate vs sufficient — Sufficient means you have the right amount; adequate means that amount is just good enough to pass.
Usage consider adequate
“Why didn’t service members receive adequate mental health support?”
“That means some residents will have been left without adequate water for up to a year.”
Learned borrowing from Latin adaequātus, perfect passive participle of adaequō (“to make equal to”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (verb-forming suffix)), further from ad (“to, towards, at”) + aequō (“to make equal, equalize”), from aequus (“equal”). Cognate with French adéquat.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.