Basic Details
Word: Sufficient
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Enough for what is needed.
Synonyms: enough, adequate, ample
Antonyms: insufficient, inadequate, scarce
How to Spell Sufficient
Syllables: suf - fi - cient
Tricky part: There is a double f, and the sh sound in the middle is spelt ci. Students write suficient, sufficent or sufficiant.
Watch out for: suficient, sufficent, sufficiant, suffecient
Memory tip: Efficient and sufficient rhyme and share their whole ending, fficient. If you can spell one, you can spell the other.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Two litres of water a day is sufficient for most children.
Example 2: The judges said there was not sufficient proof to blame him.
Example 3: Will this cloth be sufficient for a kurta and a dupatta?
Fun Fact
The saying 'Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof' comes from the Bible and means: deal with today's troubles and do not worry about tomorrow's.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the meaning of the correctly spelt word:
1. abundent 2. quantaty 3. sufficient 4. scarsity
a) enough for what is needed
b) existing in large amounts
c) an amount or number of something
d) a shortage of something
Show answer
a) enough for what is needed. Abundant ends in ant, scarcity has a c, not an s, after the r, and quantity has an i after the t; sufficient needs no change.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
su_fic_ent
a) s, i
b) f, e
c) c, i
d) f, i
Show answer
d) f, i. The f is doubled, and the sh sound is written ci.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word 'sufficient' as used in the sentence:
There was sufficient food at the gurdwara langar for everyone who came.
a) plenty
b) inadequate
c) enough
d) ample
Show answer
b) inadequate. Ample, enough and plenty all agree with sufficient; inadequate says there was too little.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A self-sufficient village is one that ____.
a) has no shops at all
b) buys everything from the city
c) depends on tourists
d) produces what it needs by itself
Show answer
d) produces what it needs by itself
2. Suffice, a verb related to sufficient, means ____.
a) to be enough
b) to come first
c) to make smaller
d) to suffer pain
Show answer
a) to be enough
