Etymologically
Log in

inadequate

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:15. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ɪnˈædəkwɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English in- (“not”) + adequate.[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not equal to what is needed, insufficient: 1675, in a work on the agreement of reason and religion;[4][6] Barnhart places the first use in Boyle's writings in 1675.[3] Etymonline dates it to the 1670s,[2] and Merriam-Webster to 1671.[5]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined the word as not equal to the purpose, defective, and quoted Locke on "inadequate ideas", which represent their originals only in part.[7] The construction with to and an infinitive is recorded from 1751, in Johnson's Rambler.[4] In the 20th century the word was applied to people: an inadequate is someone whose personality falls short of what society expects, from 1962,[4][8] and Merriam-Webster records the sense of being unable to make a mature or normal social adjustment.[5]

Timeline

  • 1671 – first known use, according to Merriam-Webster.[5]
  • 1675 – not adequate, insufficient.[4][3]
  • 1751 – followed by to or an infinitive.[4]
  • 1755 – Johnson defines it as defective, not equal to the purpose.[7]
  • 1962 – as a noun, an inadequate person.[4][8]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Not enough in amount or quality for what is needed; insufficient: The shelter's heating was inadequate for the winter.
  2. Of a person: not competent or able to deal with a situation.
  3. (psychology) Lacking the capacity to make a mature or normal social adjustment.

Noun

  1. A person regarded as unable to cope with ordinary social life.

Word family

  • inadequately
  • inadequateness

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)