Insufficient
[ɪnsə'fɪʃ(ə)nt] or [,ɪnsə'fɪʃnt]
Definition
(adj.) of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement; 'insufficient funds' .
Inputed by Annie--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Not sufficient; not enough; inadequate to any need, use, or purpose; as, the provisions are insufficient in quantity, and defective in quality.
(a.) Wanting in strength, power, ability, capacity, or skill; incompetent; incapable; unfit; as, a person insufficient to discharge the duties of an office.
Checked by Jennie
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. Inadequate, incompetent, unequal, incapable, unfit, not sufficient.
Checked by Conan
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See SUFFICIENT]
Edited by Johanna
Definition
adj. not sufficient: deficient: unfit: incapable.—ns. Insuffic′iency Insuffic′ience (rare).—adv. Insuffic′iently.
Checker: Norris
Examples
- You showed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- Presently Philotas was accused of conspiracy, and, upon very insufficient evidence, tortured and executed. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Four sides of paper were insufficient to contain all her delight, and all her earnest desire of being loved by her sister. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- If the quantity of air is insufficient, the carbon particles remain unburned and form soot. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Mostly these men have worked against great discouragement, with insufficient funds and small help or support from the mass of mankind. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- If, on the other hand, air passes to the lungs by way of the mouth, the warming process is brief and insufficient, and the lungs suffer in consequence. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- She felt that she had been risking her friend's happiness on most insufficient grounds. Jane Austen. Emma.
- He made a diagram in which one atom of oxygen was combined with one atom of nitrogen, but in this case the oxygen was insufficient to satisfy all the nitrogen of the atmosphere. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- And there was a great crowding and dislocation of goods at the dép?ts because there was insufficient road transport. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The poor creatures were packed on the ships often with insufficient provision of food and water, without proper sanitation, without medicines. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The institution of long apprenticeships can give no security that insufficient workmanship shall not frequently be exposed to public sale. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Scanty and insufficient suppers those, and innocent of meat, as of most other sauce to wretched bread. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- He had a reason for going away, though it was an insufficient one. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- By the extension, besides, of cultivation, the unimproved wilds become insufficient to supply the demand for butcher's meat. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- But II is insufficient. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- I had, said he, come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient data. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- The authorities held that a robbery had been planned, on insufficient information received by the thieves. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- On several occasions during the war such details were made when the complement of men with the navy was insufficient for the duty before them. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
Checker: Norris