Meaning & use
adequate
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Enough in amount or good enough in quality to do what is needed, without being impressive.
Grammar: Often followed by for or to: the room is adequate for our needs, or the pay is adequate to live on.
Patterns
- adequate for something
- adequate to do something
- adequate to the task
The old laptop is adequate for writing emails and little else.
We had adequate time to catch the train, but not much to spare.
Her explanation was adequate, though it left a few questions open.
adjectivenot comparable
Acceptable but unremarkable, used when rating something as neither bad nor good.
Grammar: Used in assessments, where adequate can sound lukewarm: an adequate meal, not a memorable one.
Patterns
- an adequate performance
- merely adequate
The hotel was adequate, so we did not complain, but we will not go back.
His grades were adequate, though his teacher knew he could do better.
The film's acting was adequate and the script forgettable.
Word forms
| comparative | more adequate |
|---|---|
| superlative | most adequate |
Common combinations
- adequate supply
- The village has an adequate supply of clean water.
- more than adequate
- The budget was more than adequate for the project.
- barely adequate
- The heating in the flat was barely adequate in January.
- adequate training
- New staff receive adequate training before they work alone.
- deemed adequate
- The repairs were deemed adequate by the inspector.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sufficient
- Sufficient focuses on quantity being enough, while adequate can also describe quality that merely meets a standard.
- satisfactory
- Satisfactory means it meets expectations or a standard, and it sounds a little more positive than adequate.
- acceptable
- Acceptable stresses that something can be tolerated or approved, rather than that it fits a particular need.
- passable
- Passable is more grudging and suggests the thing only just avoids being poor.
Opposites
Word family
- adequately adverb
- in a way that is good enough
- adequacy noun
- the state of being good or plentiful enough
- inadequate adjective
- not enough or not good enough
- inadequacy noun
- the condition of being not enough, or a feeling of personal failure
Commonly confused: adequate or adept?
adequate vs adept
Adept means skilled and capable at something, which is a stronger praise than adequate, which only means good enough.
Practice
The tent kept us dry, but it was only ____ for two people, so we felt cramped.
Choose one answer.
Adequate means just enough, which fits the idea of dry but cramped. The other options suggest abundance or high quality, which contradicts feeling cramped.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “adequate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.