insufficient
Falling woefully short
Insufficient means not enough—falling short of what's needed or required.
An insufficient supply won't meet demand.
Insufficient evidence won't support a conviction.
The word often appears in formal or technical contexts: insufficient funds in banking means an account lacks money to cover a transaction.
Deficient in quantity
- sparseThinly scattered or distributed
- scantBarely adequate amount
- paltryContemptibly meager
- skimpyInadequate in size or amount
scanty · minimal · limited · scarce · thin · bare · slight · negligible
Not sufficient for purpose
- subparBelow acceptable quality
- substandardBelow required quality
- unsatisfactoryNot good enough
- poorLacking sufficient resources
inferior · mediocre · unacceptable · lacking · weak · faulty · imperfect · shoddy
Failure to reach quota
- shortageDeficient supply of necessities
- lackDeficiency or absence
- scarcityInsufficiency of something needed
- dearthAcute shortage of something
paucity · inadequacy · undersupply · shortcoming · gap · underfunding · depletion · want
Not yielding a decision
- unsubstantiatedWithout supporting evidence
- unsupportedLacking backing or proof
- unprovenNot yet established
- flimsyWeak and easily damaged
weak · thin · tenuous · unconvincing · questionable · doubtful · circumstantial · speculative
Favoring one side
- unfinishedNot yet complete
- incompleteLacking necessary parts
- fragmentaryConsisting of incomplete parts
- half-donePartially completed, abandoned midway
undeveloped · rudimentary · sketchy · preliminary · inconclusive · underdeveloped · unpolished · rough
meager
Deficient in quantity
skimpy · scanty · minimal · limited · scarce · thin · bare · slight · negligible · nominal
inadequate
Not sufficient for purpose
- subparBelow acceptable quality
- substandardBelow required quality
- unsatisfactoryNot good enough
poor · inferior · mediocre · unacceptable · lacking · weak · faulty · imperfect · shoddy · flawed
shortfall
Failure to reach quota
- shortageDeficient supply of necessities
- lackDeficiency or absence
- scarcityInsufficiency of something needed
dearth · paucity · inadequacy · undersupply · shortcoming · gap · underfunding · depletion · want · absence
inconclusive
Not yielding a decision
- unsubstantiatedWithout supporting evidence
- unsupportedLacking backing or proof
- unprovenNot yet established
flimsy · weak · thin · tenuous · unconvincing · questionable · doubtful · circumstantial · speculative · inadequate
partial
Favoring one side
- unfinishedNot yet complete
- incompleteLacking necessary parts
- fragmentaryConsisting of incomplete parts
half-done · undeveloped · rudimentary · sketchy · preliminary · inconclusive · underdeveloped · unpolished · rough · cursory
- availabilityavailable, unavailable, sold out, in stock, out of stock
- incompleteincomplete, unfinished, partial, fragmentary, half-done
- quantitiessome, many, few, amount, several
- scarcityscarcity, scarce, shortage, scant, scanty
- IN- wordsinactive, incomplete, invisible, inside, indoor
- shortcomingsinadequate, lacking, inferior, subpar, poor
insufficientsufficient
Meeting minimum requirements
enough · adequate · satisfactory · acceptable · decent
- insufficient fundsLacking required money
- insufficient evidenceFacts too weak to prove
- insufficient postageInadequate mailing fee paid
- insufficient coverageProtection that falls short