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English (UK)
Cambridge Dictionary Online

Meaning of insufficient in English

insufficient
adjective
uk
/ˌɪn.səˈfɪʃ.ənt/ us
/ˌɪn.səˈfɪʃ.ənt/
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C1
not enough:
insufficient information/time
[ + to infinitive ] There was insufficient money to fund the project.
Synonym
inadequate
Opposite
sufficient
Compare
deficient
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Scarce, inadequate and not enough
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Related word

insufficiently
(Definition of insufficient from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

insufficient | American Dictionary

insufficient
adjective [ not gradable ]
us
/ˌɪn·səˈfɪʃ·ənt/
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not enough in amount, strength, or quality; less than is needed:
There was insufficient evidence, so we had to find him not guilty.

insufficiently

adverb [ not gradable ] us
/ˌɪn·səˈfɪʃ·ənt·li/
Many of the students got low grades because they were insufficiently prepared.
(Definition of insufficient from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

insufficient | Business English

insufficient
adjective
uk
/ˌɪnsəˈfɪʃənt/ us
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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 about the shares.

insufficiently

adverb
For years the health service has been insufficiently funded.
(Definition of insufficient from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of insufficient

insufficient
But in case the supply of tubes is insufficient they should be transferred, as caught, into any dry bottle, such as a whisky bottle.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Nevertheless, insufficient support was forthcoming and by the project had stalled.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Such terminology has insufficient architectural precision to be credible as an answer to current urban problems.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
This holistic analysis has suggested that the term is somewhat insufficient in characterising power relations.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The problem of insufficient promotion possibilities, for instance, will disappear by virtue of the demographic swing.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Most of these theories relied on the feeling of the past - in his view, clearly an insufficient and question-begging explanation.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The changes in levels of ferredoxin were insufficient to support ferredoxin deficiency as a cause of aerobic metronidazole resistance.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The complexity of historical processes should not be boiled down to some insufficient essentials.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
There was some overlap in that delegates found there was too much traffic and insufficient parking.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Yet, in many instances, these abolitionist judges dismissed the actions as legally insufficient.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The authors showed that disrupting the b-sheet structure in either layer was insufficient to completely prevent fibril formation.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
He openly admitted that he had turned to fiction because the historical genre was insufficient for his aims.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Strongyloidiasis is presently at insufficient levels to justify inclusion within a community treatment programme targeting maternal and child health.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Prophetic voices are appropriate and important, but insufficient to policy.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Given the similarities among these models, identifying a single characteristic (such as ancestor veneration or corporate proper ty) is insufficient to distinguish a lineage.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
What is the pronunciation of insufficient?
 

Translations of insufficient

in Chinese (Traditional)
不夠的，不足的, 不充分的…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
不够的，不足的, 不充分的…
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in Spanish
insuficiente, insuficiente [masculine-feminine, singular]…
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in Portuguese
insuficiente, insuficientes…
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in more languages
in Marathi
in Turkish
in French
in Japanese
in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
in Gujarati
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Telugu
in Bengali
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
अपुरा, पुरेसा नसलेला…
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yetersiz, kifayetsiz…
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insuffisant/-ante, insuffisant…
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不十分（ふじゅうぶん）な…
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onvoldoende…
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போதுமானதாக இல்லை…
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अपर्याप्त…
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અધૂરું, અપર્યાપ્ત…
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utilstrækkelig…
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otillräcklig, bristfällig…
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tidak cukup…
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unzureichend…
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utilstrekkelig…
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ناکافی…
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недостатній, незадовільний…
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సరి పోనిది…
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অপর্যাপ্ত…
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nedostatečný…
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tidak cukup…
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ขาดแคลน…
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không đủ…
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niewystarczający, niedostateczny…
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smooth something over

UK
/smuːð/
US
/smuːð/

to make problems, difficulties, or disagreements less serious or easier to solve, usually by talking to the people involved

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