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enough

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adjective

enough

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noun

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective enough contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of enough are adequate, competent, and sufficient. While all these words mean "being what is necessary or desirable," enough is less exact in suggestion than sufficient.

do you have enough food?

When would adequate be a good substitute for enough?

Although the words adequate and enough have much in common, adequate may imply barely meeting a requirement.

the service was adequate

When is it sensible to use competent instead of enough?

The words competent and enough can be used in similar contexts, but competent suggests measuring up to all requirements without question or being adequately adapted to an end.

had no competent notion of what was going on

When is sufficient a more appropriate choice than enough?

The synonyms sufficient and enough are sometimes interchangeable, but sufficient suggests a close meeting of a need.

sufficient savings

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 enough
Adverb
That was enough to get the company off the ground. ArsTechnica, 22 Sep. 2025 His work in front of the Mammoth goalie was enough. Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
The actor wore the Pammy, with her brunette hair pinned up in a just-messy-enough textured pile, leaving her iconic curtain bangs (plus two textured tendrils, to frame) exposed. Grace McCarty, Glamour, 12 Sep. 2025 Meanwhile, Glushon said city leaders, including Bass, aren't doing enough to address the concerns of Encino residents, saying the LAPD is woefully understaffed. Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Noun
In some cases, the frost is severe enough to end the growing season and is then referred to as a 'killing frost'. Ca Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 21 Sep. 2025 Now Kirk has suffered enough and has gone to the Lord, Arnn said. N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 21 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for enough
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enough
Adverb
  • Nor was the jury sufficiently moved by accounts of his birth mother’s alcohol consumption during pregnancy, his small brain or other factors.
    Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Sep. 2025
  • At some point, though, meaning that is sufficiently cryptic becomes indistinguishable from no meaning at all.
    Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Adverb
  • For John and Julia, the delivery was pretty brutal.
    Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2025
  • And pretty much anything from Veejay’s collection; please, give it to me.
    Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
Adverb
  • Another thing is that the robots in Lai’s experiments were identical, while in a real-world work cell, robotic teams are quite often heterogeneous.
    Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 25 Sep. 2025
  • Overall, reviewers believe that Squarespace is quite user-friendly enough for small enterprises but may not fit the scaling needs of larger organizations.
    Jasmin Suknanan, CNBC, 25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Rubicon is a warning about how republics decay, and how institutional reverence alone, without cultivating a common moral framework, is not sufficient to keep a state intact.
    Zephyr Teachout, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 2025
  • Most areas of the US that lack sufficient primary care doctors are rural, according to a 2024 government analysis.
    Preston Fore, Fortune, 22 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • To determine the sufficiency of the evidence, the appellate judges identified the reasonable inferences that could be drawn from the circumstances proved.
    Nick Ferraro, Twin Cities, 19 Aug. 2025
  • Tsangari doles out information cagily, turning over narrative cards with calculated delay, a bare sufficiency that undercuts her world-building in favor of point-making; the just-enough story is also a just-so story.
    Richard Brody, New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2025
Adverb
  • The tribes and environmental groups contend the permit approvals failed to adequately consider the risks of potential oil spills.
    Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Do not underestimate the amount of work required to adequately and safely pair up with AI.
    Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
Adverb
  • There are no crevasses or technical features on its standard route, just a relatively simple rock scramble beneath the summit block.
    Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 20 Sep. 2025
  • Audiences are relatively cold too, polling a B- grade from Cinema Score.
    J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 20 Sep. 2025
Adverb
  • Add chicken, reserved 1/2 cup bacon, and 1 cup of the cheese; fold until evenly distributed and fully coated.
    Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 20 Sep. 2025
  • After the fire is fully contained, the next step is to control it.
    CA WILDFIRE BOT, Sacbee.com, 20 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Enough.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enough. Accessed 27 Sep. 2025.

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