adequatead‧e‧quate /ˈædɪkwət/ ●●○ S3 W3 AWL adjective 
Farmers have been slow to make adequate provision for their retirement. Some creams we tested failed to give adequate protection against UV light. The standard of his work is barely adequate. The company has yet to provide an adequate explanation for its actions.adequate for Are the parking facilities adequate for 50 cars?adequate to do something The lunchtime menu is more than adequate to satisfy the biggest appetite.► see thesaurus at enough2fairly good but not excellent: Her performance was adequate but lacked originality.► see thesaurus at satisfactory—adequacy noun [uncountable]
WORD ORIGINadequate
Origin:
1500-1600 Latin past participle of adaequare ‘to make equal’, from ad- ‘to’ + aequare ‘to equal’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Employers must provide adequate training opportunities.
- Hardin's campaign did not have adequate funds to broadcast any ads on television.
- Make sure that the lighting is adequate so that your guests to see what they are eating.
- Most people eat an adequate diet.
- None of his workers received adequate safety training.
- Now that we have extended the hall, those small electric heaters are no longer adequate.
- Redman's performance was adequate, though it lacked originality.
- The heating system would only be adequate for a much smaller house.
- Nevertheless, it is still open to question whether these arrangements are an adequate substitute for parliamentary scrutiny.
- She gives accounts of the long hours worked by women and the effort put into maintaining what were seen as adequate standards.
- The minerals in a normal diet will be adequate to replace any losses.
- The retail business, which is essential for the maintenance of adequate market liquidity, declined after the 1987 stock market crash.
- There is often no provision made, or considered adequate for elderly relatives without causing gross inconvenience to all parties.
- Winter may seem like the ideal time to do interior painting, but it requires adequate ventilation.
- Yet, without a ground and adequate pitch, the sport was unlikely to flourish.
THESAURUS
as much or as many as necessary, or as you want: · My family never had enough money for holidays abroad.· Have you had enough to eat?
formal enough for a particular purpose: · The police did not have sufficient evidence to justify a charge.· The accuracy of the older technique was sufficient for our needs.
formal enough in quantity or good enough in quality for a particular purpose: · All staff must be given adequate training in health and safety.· The heating system was barely adequate.
more than enough for what is needed: · Local residents will be given ample opportunity to express their views.· People used to think that 1 GB of memory was ample for the average personal computer.
an amount that is enough or more than enough: · Allow yourself plenty of time to get to the airport.· Your daughter won’t need much cash at camp ($20-$25 will be plenty).
spoken used to say that a particular number or amount will be enough for what you need: · ‘How many envelopes do you want?’ ‘Ten should do.’
good enough – often used when something reaches a fairly good standard, but is not of a high standard: · Her grades are satisfactory.· For a beginner, this camera produces satisfactory results.
spoken not bad, but not very good: · The meal was all right, but rather expensive.· ‘How was the film?’ ‘It was OK.’
fairly good: · a reasonable standard of living· The quality of the food was reasonable.
if something is acceptable to you, you think it is good enough and you are willing to take it: · an acceptable offer· an acceptable level of risk· They can't find a solution that is acceptable to both sides.
enough in quantity, or of a good enough standard. Adequate sounds rather formal and is used especially in official contexts: · an adequate supply of drinking water· adequate standards of hygiene
especially spoken good enough in quality – used especially when something is as good as most other things: · I want my kids to get a decent education.· Where can I get a decent cup of coffee?· The food’s decent and the service is good.
satisfactory, but not of the best quality – used especially about food and drink, or someone’s skill at doing something. Passable sounds rather formal: · a passable French wine· His Japanese was passable.· a passable imitation of Barack Obama
informal to be of a good enough standard: · His work wasn’t up to scratch.· None of the hotels they suggested were up to scratch.
informal to be good enough for a particular purpose: · Any kind of paper will do.· ‘How about Ken?’ ‘I suppose he’ll do.’
Longman Language Activatorwhen there is enough of something you need · Here's $20. Is that enough?· Have you got enough drivers? I can help if you need me.enough something to do something · I make enough money to pay the bills and keep food on the table.enough (something) for something · Will there be enough room for Joey in the car?· This recipe makes enough for eight people.more than enough (=more than you need) · I've given you more than enough time to make up your mind.I've had enough (=say this when you have eaten enough food) · "Would you like some more pizza?" "No thanks, I've had enough."
formal enough: · It was decided that there was sufficient evidence to convict Marconi.sufficient for: · The money should be sufficient for one month's travel.
formal enough in amount, and good enough in quality: · None of his workers received adequate safety training.adequate for: · The heating system would only be adequate for a much smaller house.
spoken use this to say that a particular number or amount will be enough for what you need: · "I can't find any more envelopes." "That's OK - these should do."will do: · I can lend you some money -- will £10 do?something should do for something/something ought to do for something: · Ten bottles of wine should do for the party.That should do it/That ought to do it/That'll do it: · Take a few more for the kids. There, that should do it.something should do/ought to do/will do somebody: · Here's £20 for the shopping -- that should do you.
formal to be enough: will/would suffice: · A doctor's certificate will suffice as a form of permission. should suffice to do something (=will probably be enough to do it): · These few examples should suffice to illustrate how social attitudes are changing.
if an amount of money covers the cost of something, it is enough to pay for it: · $29.90 a month covers the cost of all your insurance.· Western aid to Third World countries barely covers the interest on their loans.
if an amount of food or money lasts for a period of time, there is enough of it for that period: last until: · I still have $100, but that won't last until the end of the vacation.last (somebody) 2 years/3 days etc: · A can of baby formula costing $6.00 will last you three to four days.
if an amount of something meets someone's needs , there is as much of it as that person needs - use this especially in formal or official contexts: · In many parts of the world, there is not enough food to meet everyone's needs.
big enough, strong enough, old enough etc: big/old/strong enough etc · Will that box be strong enough?enough for · The sled is big enough for three children to ride on it safely.enough to do something · The pole was just long enough to reach the top window.· Raphael is probably the only one crazy enough to try it.
formal enough: · I had recovered sufficiently by the end of the week to give two more speeches.sufficiently large/easy etc to do something: · I don't think the candidate is sufficiently skillful to do the job.sufficiently large/easy etc for something: · The measurements are sufficiently accurate for our purposes.
formal enough or well enough: · There are no plans to change the current system, which is performing adequately.· We're trying to encourage parents to make sure their children are adequately protected against childhood diseases.
good enough · If the weather's good enough next weekend we'll go camping.good enough for · It's just a cheap wine but it's good enough for a picnic.good enough to do something · Do you think she's good enough to be in the team?
something that is satisfactory reaches the expected standard but is not better than it: · You won't get paid unless your work is satisfactory.· Lynne got satisfactory grades and was offered a place at university.
spoken use this about something that is good enough but not especially good: · The children made the cakes. I hope they're all right.· "What did you think of the movie?" "Oh, it was OK - nothing special."· This book is OK for beginners but it's not really suitable for more advanced students.
spoken use this to say that something is fairly good, and better than you expected: · "What was the food like?" "Oh, not bad - better than last time."· You know, that's not a bad idea.not too bad: · "How was the exam?" "Oh, not too bad. I think I passed."
good enough for a particular purpose, especially by being of a high enough level, amount, or quality: · Employers must provide adequate training opportunities.· Now that we have extended the hall, those small electric heaters are no longer adequate.· Make sure that the lighting is adequate so that your guests can see what they are eating.
good enough to be able to be used for a particular purpose: · We had a lot of applicants for the job but only a few of them were acceptable.· Some low-fat cheeses have quite an acceptable flavour but some taste like rubber.acceptable to: · The dispute was settled in a way that was acceptable to both sides.
good enough, but not very good: · There was some bread, a little cheese and a passable French wine.· He gave a passable imitation of Charlie Chaplin.
fairly good, but not very good: · Most of her work is of a reasonable standard.· A reasonable number of people turned up for the meeting.· We had an enjoyable weekend and the weather was quite reasonable.
a piece of work or a performance that is competent is done to a satisfactory standard but does not have any particularly good or skilful features: · Most of the essays were competent but one was really outstanding.· Ben took out his pen and produced a quick but very competent sketch of the building.
spoken of a good enough quality or standard: · I want to provide my boys with a decent education.· There isn't one decent restaurant around here.
especially spoken to be good enough for a particular purpose: · If you don't have any butter, margarine will do.· I want someone to practise first aid on. You'll do, Simon.will do somebody (=be good enough for someone): · Don't bother fetching me another chair. This one'll do me fine.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Farmers have been slow to make adequate provision for their retirement. The standard of his work is barely adequate. The lunchtime menu is more than adequate to satisfy the biggest appetite.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
Farmers have been slow to make adequate provision for their retirement. The standard of his work is barely adequate. The lunchtime menu is more than adequate to satisfy the biggest appetite. (=one that explains something completely)· A bank must offer an adequate explanation of all its charges.
· Companies have a legal responsibility to take adequate precautions against fire.
· You cannot go on a dangerous trip like this without adequate preparation.
· Some car seats for children did not provide adequate protection.
· Why had the parents not provided adequate supervision?
· The larger cities usually have more modern health facilities and an adequate supply of medicines.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· They were clumsy to use, the striking surface barely adequate.· But no one could suppose that the result could be more than barely adequate.· They were barely adequate, but to tell the truth there was not much worth lighting up.· Instead, he wrote a barely adequate, undistinguished letter.
· He said I should have more adequate protection than a burglar alarm.· The severe limiting of the category would be pragmatic as well in securing more adequate medical insurance coverage.· This in turn will provide a more adequate basis for the formulation of relevant policy.· It is, rather, the context in which more adequate explanation can occur, or at least be attempted.· Such a position is not just a correction of Kant but a fundamental rejection in favor of another and more adequate criterion.· The houses should be repaired and modernised; proper plumbing should be installed, and more adequate heating.· However, such questions must be asked if we hope to develop a more adequate policy in relation to doping in sport.
· However, lower your aural sights a little and £200 - £300 will get you a perfectly adequate operator.· The rest will be moved on to a perfectly adequate out-of-town portal site with ads that flash and jitter.· Other requirements: Light: Appreciates good light from above and all round, though light from above is perfectly adequate.· It is possible to subscribe to an updating service, but adopting your own scheme is perfectly adequate and is not expensive.· The address book is an odd addition, given that the database is perfectly adequate for fulfilling this need.· Boot space is perfectly adequate quite shallow but long.· This can make the conventional approach perfectly adequate for some systems development work.· Ardmore's runway is more generously dimensioned and better levelled than North Shore's but North Shore is perfectly adequate too.
· Your first effort may well look like a rag doll, but this is quite adequate to begin with.· In the developed western countries private resources and the capital market were quite adequate.· The existing arrangements of asking for police assistance when the presence of weapons is suspected are considered to be quite adequate.· Although the data collected were quite adequate for this purpose, no attempt was made to claim representativeness for the doorstep survey.· The researchers estimated Diatryma's athletic ability as quite adequate to catch most of the contemporary mammals.· I believe that that is quite adequate.· However, the detailed cross-referencing is usually quite adequate to take care of such problems.
NOUN· It is, I think, one of two parts of an adequate account of causal asymmetry.· Anything like an adequate account of the method of empirical inquiry is out of the question here.· Can the background view be held on its own as an adequate account of causation?
· It is very hard to provide a simple but adequate explanation.· The analyst must be sensitive to possible environmental effects when attempting to provide an adequate explanation for a particular political behavior.· Nor is economic failure an adequate explanation.· It is, rather, the context in which more adequate explanation can occur, or at least be attempted.· But is this an adequate explanation?· As a result, there is rarely the time to provide adequate explanations as to why a particular step is carried out.· However, other data presented here suggest that this is not an adequate explanation.
· Others are dining, on the cautious assumption that a nine o'clock party might not provide adequate food.· Each family was perennially engaged in securing an adequate food supply for its members.· Regular feeding with a general fertiliser will help to ensure that the plants are always supplied with adequate food materials.· One 63-year-old freed prisoner revealed that captives were kept in metal cages without sanitation or adequate food.· The latter, he argues, can only be accomplished if an adequate food supply is produced within a ecologically sustainable system.
· Unemployment does not only deny an adequate income, it can create deep crises of social identity.· This put him on two public payrolls, the county and the state, and assured him of an adequate income.· The other is to find well-paid employment which will provide her with an adequate income to afford the repayments.
· It is important to appropriately balance these risks on the basis of adequate information.· The first point is that you can't make a meaningful choice of subjects without adequate information.
· The scheme for parents would have to start with a really adequate level of child benefits.· To continue the previous example, suppose that 500 units was determined to be an adequate level of safety stock.· Questions about adequate levels of safety on the roads or in factories, or about purity in foods are of this kind.· They will have failed to maintain an adequate level of expectation about what life can be as non-parents.
· Preparation and follow-up To get full value from a visit, adequate preparation and follow-up are vital.· The importance of adequate preparation can not be overemphasized in view of the substantial delays and costs that could arise through error.· However, this is more surely an argument for adequate preparation than for a refusal to appear.· In either case adequate preparation should be made, so that the relevant facts and estimates are in a presentable state.· Jimmy Carter's limited experience in politics had not given him adequate preparation for the demands of the White House.· It is open, voluntary, not embarked upon lightly or without adequate preparation.
· They should be clamped in reasonably dry conditions with adequate protection against frost.· Most universities have some review committee that requires a statement from the researcher that adequate protection will be guaranteed for all respondents.· Men involved in the upper reaches of political life might not necessarily find in it an adequate protection.· Federal safety experts say such helmets appear to offer adequate protection for skaters.· He said I should have more adequate protection than a burglar alarm.· Three days later, however, President Nixon ordered that the reconnaissance missions be resumed and that they receive adequate protection.· The court is able to give adequate protection to solicitors' clients without straining the language of section 69.· The General Accounting Office reports that airbags do not provide adequate protection for small children and others not sitting in normal position.
· All major publicly-funded housing developments will make adequate provision for the less well off.· Peace of mind, adequate provision for family and friends, and the knowledge that one's wishes will be carried out.· Management considers that adequate provision has been made for any liability which may arise in respect of the years 1981 to 1983.· The need for the adequate provision of permanent residential homes increases substantially as the mentally handicapped child grows up.· The Rules do contain adequate provisions for appeal by the person upon whom a notice is served.· There is a gross disparity between the size of the unemployment problem and the minuscule educational resources available to make adequate provision.
· But, as disappointed abolitionists in the country reported, adequate supply remained crucial.· It also is working to ensure an adequate supply of modems too, from Motorola and others.· Basically, if you follow the suggestions we have made earlier, you will obtain adequate supplies of vitamins and minerals.· While saying this I do not want to exaggerate the lack of adequate supplies of goodwill.· Encouragement and real results are the essential ingredients required to nurture adequate supplies of willpower and to keep it growing.· The restrictions in outdoor water use were approved last week to help maintain adequate supplies during the shutdown.· Others represented yet more heroes and champions, of which the disc had a more than adequate supply.
· If Britain is to maintain its tradition of excellent clinical research adequate support must be provided for the clinical costs of research.· By fitting one central bar, three-point cramping is possible, catering for irregular shapes, while still providing adequate support.· Welfare and social services Recent research has demonstrated that people with severe mental handicaps can undertake productive work, with adequate support.· It's important that the sling is easy to put on single-handed, and that your baby gets adequate support.· Doors of the hatch can be hinged or sliding, or even a lift-down flap, as long as it's got adequate support.· Dividing one room into two is not a difficult operation, and simple studding can provide adequate support for sheet plasterboard.
· The implication drawn from the trade is that modern corporations lack an adequate system of accountability.· Ensure that an adequate system for taking backup files is established and maintained.· Any manager who fails to devise adequate systems for job control is at best not in control and at worst out of control.· Likewise, for those caring for an adult the scheme would have to be built on an adequate system of disability benefits.· It can not be stressed enough that an adequate system for financial control must be a priority matter for the haulier.
· Set aside adequate time for thought and planning.· The importance of the results should be such that there is adequate time to seek opinions from employees. 2.· If adequate time has been spent at the design stage, the construction of files holds few major problems.· We are also indebted to the Minister and the Whips for allowing us adequate time in which to adduce our arguments.· They also criticised the lack of adequate time for consultation.· We will want to give adequate time to them to share their experiences and insights.· This period of grace has in normal market conditions given the house owner adequate time in which to find a buyer.· First, all overlap periods must allow adequate time for exchange of information between the staff coming to duty and those leaving.
· Employees should also be given adequate training in safety precautions etc.· The first problem is that many young doctors do not get an adequate training.· The report also emphasized the need for adequate training and supervision of personnel working in this area.· There is no substitute for adequate training, instruction and supervision.· This involves: Installing a written system for checking temperatures, plus adequate training and instruction on the system for staff.· Apart from recruitment the greatest problem most armies faced was that of giving adequate training to their officers.· Are staff given adequate training to enable them to undertake recruitment activities?· It is unfair, however, to expect nurses to take on this new role and responsibility without adequate training and supervision.
· The creditor would not be concerned with the question whether or not the surety had an adequate understanding of the transaction.
WORD FAMILYnounadequacy ≠ inadequacyadjectiveadequate ≠ inadequateadverbadequately ≠ inadequately
1enough in quantity or of a good enough quality for a particular purpose SYN sufficient OPP inadequate: Farmers have been slow to make adequate provision for their retirement. Some creams we tested failed to give adequate protection against UV light. The standard of his work is barely adequate. The company has yet to provide an adequate explanation for its actions.adequate for Are the parking facilities adequate for 50 cars?adequate to do something The lunchtime menu is more than adequate to satisfy the biggest appetite.► see thesaurus at enough2fairly good but not excellent: Her performance was adequate but lacked originality.► see thesaurus at satisfactory—adequacy noun [uncountable]