as in lacking
not coming up to an expected measure or meeting a particular need
an inadequate amount of food on hand for so many unexpected guests
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of inadequate
The Dunsmore plaintiffs’ petition notes that since 2021, at least seven people with mental illness have died in administrative separation by suicide or due to inadequate medical care in jail.
—
Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Oct. 2025
Weak oversight of third-party providers, delayed responses and inadequate security policies leave personal information exposed and vulnerable to attackers.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2025
Infrastructure gaps, such as missing water lines or inadequate manholes, are other challenges that the group has collaborated with the Unified Government on.
—Kansas City Star, 18 Oct. 2025
Radiation shielding for multi-year exposure remains inadequate.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inadequate
Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Oct. 2025
Weak oversight of third-party providers, delayed responses and inadequate security policies leave personal information exposed and vulnerable to attackers.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2025
Infrastructure gaps, such as missing water lines or inadequate manholes, are other challenges that the group has collaborated with the Unified Government on.
—Kansas City Star, 18 Oct. 2025
Radiation shielding for multi-year exposure remains inadequate.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inadequate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inadequate
Adjective
-
And the flick, based on Hoover’s bestselling novel, lays it on thick alongside a lacking narrative and cringey dialogue.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
22 Oct. 2025
-
The other aspect of this Bills team is the lacking defense, which has always been a major problem for the team.—
James Brizuela,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Last December, an attempt to reappoint Walker to another five-year term failed due to insufficient support among members of the Board of Directors.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
26 Oct. 2025
-
In essence, the threat comes from human behavior and insufficient protection, not software bugs.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
At the same time, live sports are no longer scarce.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
27 Oct. 2025
-
When food is scarce, Edge said deer turn to berries from evergreen species like juniper.—
Craig Shoup,
Nashville Tennessean,
27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The organization’s Green Heart Project, which studies the impact of better air quality on heart disease through urban greening, has found that increasing the number of trees and shrubs in an area can create lower levels of a blood marker associated with inflammation.—
Maggie Menderski,
Louisville Courier Journal,
26 Oct. 2025
-
Here is Carreras profiting from that exact ploy while playing for Benfica against Barcelona in the Champions League last season, sneaking forward on the far side before receiving the switch and hammering a low cross into striker Vangelis Pavlidis to score.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Inadequate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inadequate. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share