Sufficient - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms

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SKIP TO CONTENT sufficient /səˈfɪʃənt/ /səˈfɪʃɪnt/ IPA guide

If you have a sufficient amount of something, it's enough — not too much, not too little, just right. Goldilocks would be pleased.

Sufficient comes from a Latin verb meaning "to meet the need." If something is sufficient it has met, or satisfied, a need. Enough is often used as a synonym for sufficient, and when something is not sufficient, it is too little to take care of what's needed. Sufficient can, however, also suggest just enough and not an abundance, as in "the money was sufficient for groceries, but we needed more to fill the gas tank."

Definitions of sufficient

adjective of a quantity that can fulfill a need or requirement but without being abundant “sufficient food” synonyms: ample more than enough in size or scope or capacity adequate, decent, enough sufficient for the purpose comfortable sufficient to provide comfort see moresee less antonyms: insufficient of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement meager, meagerly, meagre, scrimpy, stingy deficient in amount or quality or extent depleted, low no longer sufficient inadequate, poor, short not sufficient to meet a need lean, skimpy containing little excess light, scant, short less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so shy short show more antonyms...

Pronunciation US /səˈfɪʃənt/ UK /səˈfɪʃɪnt/ Cite this entry Style: MLA

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Vocabulary lists containing sufficient

List 4

Learn these essential words that you'll encounter in literature, textbooks, class discussions, and more.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J.K. Rowling

In the fourth book of the Harry Potter series, the Triwizard Tournament brings foreign students — and unexpected dangers — to Hogwarts.

Franklin Roosevelt, "Four Freedoms" (1941)

In January of 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined the basic freedoms that, in his view, America represented. Almost a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor, FDR warned of the dangers from dictatorships and of the need for America to prepare to defend itself.

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