insufficient

  • 1insufficient — I adjective bereft of, defective, deficient, denuded of, destitute of, devoid of, drained, failing, faint, feeble, haud sufficiens, impar, imperfect, in default, inadequate, incapable, incommensurate, incompetent, incomplete, inconsiderable,… …

    Law dictionary

  • 2Insufficient — In suf*fi cient, a. [L. insufficiens, entis. See {In } not, and {Sufficient}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Not sufficient; not enough; inadequate to any need, use, or purpose; as, the provisions are insufficient in quantity, and defective in quality.… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 3insufficient — UK US /ˌɪnsəˈfɪʃənt/ adjective ► not enough, or not big or important enough for a particularpurpose: »Their plan may mature with insufficient funds to pay off their mortgages. »This would leave insufficient time to release any new information… …

    Financial and business terms

  • 4insufficient — (adj.) late 14c., from O.Fr. insufficient (14c.), from L. insufficientem (nom. insufficiens) insufficient, from in not, opposite of (see IN (Cf. in ) (1)) + sufficientem (see SUFFICIENT (Cf. sufficient)). Originally of persons, inadequate,… …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 5insufficient — is a useful word because enough has no corresponding negative form, but not enough is often more natural and usually less formal sounding. Another alternative in some contexts is inadequate, which can refer to quantity as well as quality …

    Modern English usage

  • 6insufficient — [adj] not enough; lacking bereft, defective, deficient, destitute, devoid, drained, dry, failing, faulty, imperfect, inadequate, incapable, incommensurate, incompetent, incomplete, infrequent, meager, minus, out of, poor, rare, scant, scarce,… …

    New thesaurus

  • 7insufficient — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ not enough. DERIVATIVES insufficiency noun insufficiently adverb …

    English terms dictionary

  • 8insufficient — [in΄sə fish′ənt] adj. [LL insufficiens] not sufficient; not enough; inadequate insufficiently adv …

    English World dictionary

  • 9insufficient — adj. 1) insufficient for; in 2) insufficient to + inf. (it s insufficient to cite only one example) * * * [ˌɪnsə fɪʃ(ə)nt] in insufficient for insufficient to + inf. (it s insufficient to cite only one example) …

    Combinatory dictionary

  • 10insufficient — in|suf|fi|cient [ˌınsəˈfıʃənt] adj formal not enough, or not great enough ▪ Insufficient resources have been devoted to the health service. insufficient for ▪ His salary was insufficient for their needs. insufficient (sth) to do sth ▪ The heating …

    Dictionary of contemporary English