inadequacy

/ɪnˈædɪkwɪsi/

/ɪnˈædɪkwɪsi/

Other forms: inadequacies

An inadequacy is something that is not enough. If you get a bad grade, it may reveal an inadequacy in your approach to studying.

The syllable qua in inadequacy rhymes with duh, and the accent is on the second syllable: "in-AD-uh-quh-see." You know that in- means "not," and the suffix y means "the quality or state of." But what is that middle part? Adaequare is the Latin word for "to make equal." So, inadequacy is the state of not being equal — or enough — for something.

Definitions of inadequacy

1. noun

   a lack of competence
   synonyms: insufficiency

   type of:

   failing, weakness

   a flaw or weak point
2. noun

   unsatisfactoriness by virtue of being inadequate
   synonyms: inadequateness

   antonyms:

   adequacy

   the quality of being able to meet a need satisfactorily

   type of:

   unsatisfactoriness

   the quality of being inadequate or unsuitable
3. noun

   lack of an adequate quantity or number
   “the inadequacy of unemployment benefits”

   synonyms: deficiency, insufficiency

   antonyms:

   adequacy

   the quality of being sufficient for the end in view

   types:

   exiguity, leanness, meagerness, meagreness, poorness, scantiness, scantness

   the quality of being meager

   deficit, shortage, shortfall

   the property of being an amount by which something is less than expected or required

   scarceness, scarcity

   a small and inadequate amount

   slenderness

   the quality of being slight or inadequate

   wateriness

   meagerness or poorness connoted by a superfluity of water (in a literary style as well as in a food)

   abstemiousness

   restricted to bare necessities

   oxygen deficit

   temporary oxygen shortage in cells resulting from strenuous exercise

   spareness, sparseness, sparsity, thinness

   the property of being scanty or scattered; lacking denseness

   dearth, paucity

   an insufficient quantity or number

   infrequency, rareness, rarity

   noteworthy scarcity

   type of:

   amount

   the relative magnitude of something with reference to a criterion