Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Not sufficient; inadequate.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not sufficient; lacking in what is necessary or required; deficient in amount, force, or fitness; inadequate; incompetent: as, insufficient provision or protection; insufficient motives.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Not sufficient; not enough; inadequate to any need, use, or purpose.
  • adjective Wanting in strength, power, ability, capacity, or skill; incompetent; incapable; unfit.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Not sufficient.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

in- +‎ sufficient

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Examples

  • House members worry about the - what they term insufficient - level of federal subsidies the Senate version would offer the uninsured and an excise tax on so-called "Cadillac" insurance policies.

    THE MEDICAL NEWS 2010

  • House members worry about the - what they term insufficient - level of federal subsidies the Senate version would offer the uninsured and an excise tax on so-called "Cadillac" insurance policies.

    THE MEDICAL NEWS 2010

  • Shares of the Chinese packaging manufacturer rose as much as 15% Wednesday, clawing back most of the ground lost the previous day after S&P's withdrew its BB long-term corporate credit rating for Nine Dragons and its BB- issue rating on the company's outstanding senior unsecured notes because of what it called "insufficient access" to company management.

    Nine Dragons Shares Jump After Response to S&P Fiona Law 2011

  • Republicans voting against the bill—which is needed to fund government operations starting Oct. 1—demanded less spending, while most Democrats were upset at what they called insufficient disaster aid in the measure.

    Budget Vote Surprises GOP Leaders Naftali Bendavid 2011

  • Purdue University has dropped its bid to build an applied-science campus in New York City, citing what it calls insufficient financial backing from the city.

    Purdue Scraps Bid Plan Joseph De Avila 2011

  • Shares of the Chinese packaging manufacturer rose as much as 15% Wednesday, clawing back most of the ground lost the previous day after S&P's withdrew its BB long-term corporate credit rating for Nine Dragons and its BB- issue rating on the company's outstanding senior unsecured notes because of what it called "insufficient access" to company management.

    Nine Dragons Shares Jump After Response to S&P Fiona Law 2011

  • It was his 2005 executive order that led to the California law promising a big emissions cut, and he has frequently criticized what he calls insufficient action by the White House to curb emissions.

    California Emissions Plan Stirs a Fight 2008

  • He made his first trip to Capitol Hill since his inauguration a week ago, aides said, to listen to concerns from Republicans who have been threatening to oppose the measure over what they call insufficient tax cuts and excessive spending.

    Yahoo! News: Top Stories 2009

  • The president made his first trip to Capitol Hill since his inauguration a week ago, aides said, to listen to concerns from Republicans who have been threatening to oppose the measure over what they call insufficient tax cuts and excessive spending.

    JournalStar.com - News Articles 2009

  • Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs said "the pieces of the mosaic don't fit" based on what has been reported by the media about the alleged plot and what he called insufficient information received officially by Hungary from Bolivia.

    Salon 2009

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