inadequatein‧ad‧e‧quate /ɪnˈædəkwət/ ●●○ AWL adjective 
inadequate resourcesinadequate for The parking facilities are inadequate for a busy shopping centre.totally/wholly/woefully/hopelessly etc inadequate The building’s electrical system was completely inadequate. The new air conditioning system proved inadequate.2someone who feels inadequate thinks other people are better, more skilful, more intelligent etc than they are: The teacher made us feel inadequate and stupid if we made mistakes.—inadequately adverb: Colleges have been inadequately funded for years.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Inadequate lighting made it difficult to continue the work after dinner.
- An inadequate supply of vitamin A can lead to blindness.
- My light clothing was hopelessly inadequate for the cold Japanese winter.
- The amount of fertilizer used was inadequate to ensure a good harvest.
- The disease spread quickly because of poor living conditions and inadequate health care.
- The state pension is wholly inadequate -- no one can live on £50 a week.
- The training that nurses get is woefully inadequate.
- He could make her feel so inadequate.
- In the course of things, some drivers already have quit, complaining of long hours, inadequate pay and poor organization.
- In their opinion, such deficiencies clearly led to inadequate administrative back-stopping and faulty interpersonal relations.
- Often the results are wrong, inadequate, untrustworthy, unreliable, and self-serving.
- The content of curricula is often inadequate.
- The plan was regarded in many quarters as inadequate, however.
- These five areas of concern indicated that an improved and modified manual personnel records system would be inadequate.
- Those scientists chose to modify the protective belt of the programme by proposing that the initial conditions were inadequate.
Longman Language Activatornot enough
also insufficient not enough for what you need. insufficient is much more formal than not enough: · You're not getting enough sleep.not enough (something) to do something: · We didn't win enough games to get to the championship.· No matter how much money they offer me, it wouldn't be enough to make me like the job.· There was insufficient evidence to prove their allegations.not enough (something) for something: · There weren't enough apples for a pie, but they're good for eating.· Officials were worried that supplies would be insufficient for the long winter that was being predicted. not nearly enough/nowhere near enough (=much less than enough): · £1 million is not nearly enough to clean up the water in the bay.· The time they've given us is nowhere near enough.
less than you need or fewer than you need - use this especially when you are criticizing or complaining about something: · Some churches are in danger of closing because there are too few priests.· There is too little cooperation between the opposing parties to get anything done in government.too little/few to do something: · There's too little time to do everything.· There were some police officers there, but too few to control the crowd.far too little/few (=much too little or few): · Most of the students explained far too little about their research methods.
if something is scarce , there is not enough of it, so it is very difficult to get or buy: · During the war, things like clothes and shoes were scarce.· Cheap, clean hotel rooms are scarce in this city, especially in the summer.
an amount of something that is inadequate is not enough for a particular purpose: · The state pension is wholly inadequate -- no one can live on £50 a week.· Inadequate lighting made it difficult to continue the work after dinner.inadequate to do something: · The amount of fertilizer used was inadequate to ensure a good harvest.
formal not enough: · The bank charged me for having insufficient funds in my account.· There has been insufficient rainfall over the past two years, and farmers are having trouble.insufficient to do something: · The data we have is insufficient to draw any conclusions.
if a product is in short supply people cannot buy or get enough of it: · Health workers reported that medicines and basic equipment were in short supply.· The unemployment rate was at 2.5%, and talented job seekers were in short supply.
if there is a lack of something there is not enough of it, or none at all: · Fernando's eyes were red through lack of sleep.· It's lack of confidence, not lack of ability, that makes most people fail.· They threw the case out of court because of a lack of evidence.
if time or money is short , there is not as much of it as you would like: · Money's a little short this month -- we'd better be careful about spending.· The military authorities considered that the need for action was great, and time was short.
not good enough · I'm afraid I can't translate this letter. My Italian isn't good enough.not be good enough for · The soil here isn't good enough for arable farming.· I paid $40 for that champagne, but it wasn't good enough for your snobbish friends.not be good enough to do something · a good club player, but not good enough to play for his country
formal not good enough and likely to cause problems or make people unhappy: · People should not accept unsatisfactory products. They should complain.· It was a most unsatisfactory meeting - not a single decision was made.· Sharing my office with the two secretaries proved an unsatisfactory arrangement.
not good enough for a particular purpose or for what someone needs: · The disease spread quickly because of poor living conditions and inadequate health care.hopelessly/woefully inadequate (=extremely inadequate): · My light clothing was hopelessly inadequate for the cold Japanese winter.· The training that nurses get is woefully inadequate.
if someone's performance, work, or products are not up to scratch , they are not of the standard that is necessary or expected: · I wonder if Sykes is ill. His work hasn't been up to scratch lately.· Schools are being threatened with closure if exam results are not up to scratch.· If they don't come up to scratch, you can do them all again.
generally considered to be below the necessary standard: · More money should be spent on the improvement of substandard housing.· Most household goods sold here are substandard, but food is plentiful and cheap.· substandard accommodation
to not achieve the level or quality that someone expects: · The film didn't live up to our expectations. It was too long and the acting was appalling.· Mark found that he simply could not live up to his teachers' high standards.· So far, she has not lived up to the tremendous promise she displayed earlier.
British spoken use this about something that is not good enough for a particular purpose: · I need strong nylon thread. Cotton won't do.· I can't accept this quality of work. It just won't do.· Handwritten notes won't do for our purposes. You'll have to type them.
American spoken to not have the ability, strength etc to succeed in a particular job or activity: · Most of the kids who start here are young and haven't worked before. Some just can't cut it.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY The building’s electrical system was completely inadequate. The new air conditioning system proved inadequate. The teacher made us feel inadequate and stupid if we made mistakes.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
The building’s electrical system was completely inadequate. The new air conditioning system proved inadequate. The teacher made us feel inadequate and stupid if we made mistakes.· These were described by the parents later as inadequate and often inaccurate.· Meanwhile the Labour Party continues to be as inadequate in Opposition as it would be in government.· Left-inclined critics of pluralism reject this as inadequate.· You do not try to catch them out, to trap them or to expose them as inadequate in any way.· I take exception to that and regard it as inadequate, for two fundamental reasons.· Hitherto the instrumental approach to law has been criticized as inadequate to provide a coherent explanation for contradictory tendencies in legal developments.
· We have seen that the inspection facilities of the International Atomic Energy Agency are completely inadequate.· Housing in the inner cities was completely inadequate.· Opposition Diet members denounced the testimony of both Takeshita and Kanemaru as completely inadequate.· Officials at 43 percent of California schools complained that at least one of their buildings is completely inadequate.· EHOs said the domestic kitchen was completely inadequate for cooking on such a scale.
· Some people are better than others in the use of words, but for some feelings, words always seem grossly inadequate.· But the more all of us looked at it, we have found it grossly inadequate.· In addition medical examinations and records are often grossly inadequate.· For the interactionists this was grossly inadequate.
· It had proved hopelessly inadequate during the revolution of 1905-6.· These students traverse course after remedial course, becoming increasingly turned off to writing, increasingly convinced that they are hopelessly inadequate.
· Merely to embark on such an approach reveals how inadequate and simplistic it is.· She enrolled at a Colorado community college and discovered how inadequate her education had been when she tested at the remedial level.· The more she picked up about his past, the more she realized how inadequate her vision of the world had been.
· The content of curricula is often inadequate.· Finally, the data available is often inadequate to test fully the theories put forward.· These premises are often inadequate to support good practice.· The legislation that exists to protect endangered species is often inadequate and lacks proper enforcement.· The people who lived there had to rely on rainwater, which in the summer was often inadequate.· Morphine alone is often inadequate, but there is nothing paradoxical about this.· The number of cars has increased and the roads are all too often inadequate to take them.
· Unfortunately, the system never worked properly, was quite inadequate for the broker's needs and was eventually scrapped.· In these houses there was no proper conversion, and cooking and sanitary facilities were quite inadequate.· It is clear that the timetable is quite inadequate to deal with such important matters.· In a multi-component disordered solid like soda-lime-silica glass a single spherically averaged diffraction pattern is quite inadequate.· The telephone service is still quite inadequate.· But these sources were quite inadequate.· The report provides considerable evidence that the traditional performance indicators of higher education success are quite inadequate.· The thin gown of emerald green silk was quite inadequate to the task of concealing what lay beneath.
· I find it hard to say, because it seems so inadequate to describe what we felt.· Other softball teams avoid playing at Northridge because the facility is so inadequate.· Lewis's footwork, so inadequate early in his career, was impressive.· He could make her feel so inadequate.· Food and hygiene were so inadequate that there was an extremely high death rate.
· Despite remedial work, which Howard acknowledged on a second visit in 1786, the prison was clearly still inadequate.· A break-down in the number of male and female students shows that the number of female graduates is still inadequate.· The system of inspection is still inadequate in many areas.· Historical records extend only a few thousand years, a time span that is still inadequate to treat slow geologic processes.· Second, the technology for cleaning a site, rather than simply sealing it, is still inadequate and expensive.· But time spent on science was still inadequate.· These criteria, however, are still inadequate for constructing a satisfactory typology of political systems.· Standards can be set, but arrangements for ensuring that they are maintained in the private sector are still inadequate.
· Is the Marxist explanation, therefore, totally inadequate?· Residential provision is extremely important and at present totally inadequate in terms of the extent of the need.· About half the impoverished households have one member employed, but their wage is totally inadequate.· The local people naturally defend their crops, usually with totally inadequate weapons such as ancient shotguns loaded with buckshot.· Two bascule bridges and one swing bridge further upstream had become totally inadequate.· Mr Milburn slammed the rise as totally inadequate.· Today's local area network systems are totally inadequate for such gigantic flows of information.
· It was very inadequate at times, especially in winter if you were on point duty.· And we have a very inadequate system for long-term care or assistance for people with chronic medical conditions.· It seems almost profane to try to describe the feeling because words are so very inadequate.
· Also the warning system was wholly inadequate.· The traditional shop class is wholly inadequate to prepare young people for this new world.· Council representatives immediately criticised the allocations as wholly inadequate.· All the obvious expressions of sympathy were wholly inadequate.· The time-consuming tasks of keeping families clean and fed were for the most part carried out with wholly inadequate equipment in depressing surroundings.· The fog bank was unattainable and rather than surrender, Kennedy opened fire against both vessels with his antique and wholly inadequate guns.
· As such, it is woefully inadequate.· But the overriding image carried every night on the evening news has been one of a woefully inadequate effort.· Their artist's impressions were woefully inadequate, though, so I binned it.· Dependent on woefully inadequate soup kitchens, they died on the streets.· But as a theoretical basis for the protection of these rights and freedoms, such ideas are woefully inadequate.· Unfortunately, partner reduction proved woefully inadequate by itself.· The committee system is woefully inadequate.· Education also needs equipment - buildings, books, scientific apparatus, even paper, pencils and slates are woefully inadequate.
NOUN· There is no doubt that the chronic and long-term needs of older people receive inadequate attention at present.· This is a key aspect of the refugee question which has so far received inadequate attention.· Even the best selection procedures may be for nothing if inadequate attention is given to transitional learning.
· Lack of proper equipment, inadequate housing - are such considerations in fact a cause of dissatisfaction?· Any problems with parenting are routinely exacerbated by poverty, inadequate housing, harassment, and constant anxiety about losing the child.· Since women outlive men in substantial numbers, inadequate housing is more a problem for elderly women than for elderly men.
· Impulsive A choice based on inadequate information responding to a feeling of urgency.· Lord Ross declared that the warrant had been obtained on inadequate information and the court awarded expenses to Mr Guest.· These are externalities, imperfect competition and inadequate information.· Armed with inadequate information he usually fails to see why one moment is better for putting in a tack than any other.
· Reduced to simple terms, those with the power have inadequate knowledge, those with the knowledge have inadequate power.
· Most homes have inadequate provision for lighting.· Instead of preventing proliferation, it has promoted it by allowing nations to protest innocence while violating the treaty's inadequate provisions.
· If an inadequate response was shown at six to twelve weeks in the dual regime, the treatment was intensified with stavudine.· Thus there are several patients with an inadequate response who are remaining well despite an unsatisfactory viral load.
WORD FAMILYnounadequacy ≠ inadequacyadjectiveadequate ≠ inadequateadverbadequately ≠ inadequately
1not good enough, big enough, skilled enough etc for a particular purpose OPP adequate: inadequate resourcesinadequate for The parking facilities are inadequate for a busy shopping centre.totally/wholly/woefully/hopelessly etc inadequate The building’s electrical system was completely inadequate. The new air conditioning system proved inadequate.2someone who feels inadequate thinks other people are better, more skilful, more intelligent etc than they are: The teacher made us feel inadequate and stupid if we made mistakes.—inadequately adverb: Colleges have been inadequately funded for years.