Adequate

//ˈæd.ə.kwɪt// adj, det, verb

adj, det, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To equalize; to make adequate. obsolete

    "Let me giue yet one instance more, of a truly intellectuall obiect, exactly adequated and proportioned vnto the intellectuall appetite."

  2. 2
    To equal. obsolete

    "[…] though it be an impossibilitie for any creature to adequate God in his eternitie, yet he hath ordained all his sonnes in Christ to partake of it by living with him eternally."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Equal to or fulfilling some requirement.

    "powers adequate to a great work"

Adjective
  1. 1
    having the requisite qualities or resources to meet a task wordnet
  2. 2
    about average; acceptable wordnet
  3. 3
    sufficient for the purpose wordnet
Determiner
  1. 1
    A sufficient amount of; enough.

    "We have adequate money for the journey."

Synonyms

All synonyms
competentfair to middlingsufficientalrightsatisfactoryable

Example

More examples

"It is important for a nation to have an adequate mix of monetary and fiscal policies."

Etymology

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.

Related phrases

adequate intake

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.