insufficiently
insufficiently — adverb
1. without enough quantity, strength, or quality to achieve a desired result or mee
without enough quantity, strength, or quality to achieve a desired result or meet a required standard, often in formal assessments.
The team was insufficiently staffed for the holiday rush, so the manager hired extra workers.
be insufficiently staffed — common passive pattern
Meera thought her application was insufficiently detailed and spent another hour adding more information.
insufficiently + past participle (detailed)
The charity's funds were insufficiently spread among the villages, so some received almost nothing.
Liam found the safety rules insufficiently clear and asked his supervisor to explain them.
The old pipes were insufficiently insulated and burst when the temperature dropped below freezing.
- inadequately
broader and more common in both formal and informal contexts; 'inadequately' can also imply poor quality, not just low quantity
- poorly
less formal and more general; can mean both 'not enough' and 'badly done'
- scantily
narrower meaning — specifically about small amount or coverage, often of clothing or resources
- sufficiently
direct opposite — to an adequate degree
- adequately
more common in everyday use; sufficient for a purpose
文法句型
be insufficiently + past participle
insufficiently + adjective
insufficiently + past participle + for + noun
用法筆記
Common in formal and evaluative writing such as reports, reviews, and performance assessments. In everyday conversation, 'not enough' or 'not sufficiently' often feel more natural.