insufficientin‧suf‧fi‧cient /ˌɪnsəˈfɪʃənt◂/ ●●○ AWL adjective formal 
Examples
Insufficient resources have been devoted to the health service.insufficient for His salary was insufficient for their needs.insufficient (something) to do something The heating is insufficient to kill the bacteria. At the moment, there’s insufficient evidence to arrest anyone.—insufficiently adverb—insufficiency noun [singular, uncountable]
ExamplesEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- an insufficient source of water
- The bank charged me for having insufficient funds in my account.
- The data we have is insufficient to draw any conclusions.
- There has been insufficient rainfall over the past two years, and farmers are having trouble.
Longman Language Activatornot enough► not enough
Collocations also insufficient not enough for what you need. insufficient is much more formal than not enough: · You're not getting enough sleep.not enough (something) to do something: · We didn't win enough games to get to the championship.· No matter how much money they offer me, it wouldn't be enough to make me like the job.· There was insufficient evidence to prove their allegations.not enough (something) for something: · There weren't enough apples for a pie, but they're good for eating.· Officials were worried that supplies would be insufficient for the long winter that was being predicted. not nearly enough/nowhere near enough (=much less than enough): · £1 million is not nearly enough to clean up the water in the bay.· The time they've given us is nowhere near enough.
► too little/few less than you need or fewer than you need - use this especially when you are criticizing or complaining about something: · Some churches are in danger of closing because there are too few priests.· There is too little cooperation between the opposing parties to get anything done in government.too little/few to do something: · There's too little time to do everything.· There were some police officers there, but too few to control the crowd.far too little/few (=much too little or few): · Most of the students explained far too little about their research methods.
► scarce if something is scarce , there is not enough of it, so it is very difficult to get or buy: · During the war, things like clothes and shoes were scarce.· Cheap, clean hotel rooms are scarce in this city, especially in the summer.
► inadequate an amount of something that is inadequate is not enough for a particular purpose: · The state pension is wholly inadequate -- no one can live on £50 a week.· Inadequate lighting made it difficult to continue the work after dinner.inadequate to do something: · The amount of fertilizer used was inadequate to ensure a good harvest.
► insufficient formal not enough: · The bank charged me for having insufficient funds in my account.· There has been insufficient rainfall over the past two years, and farmers are having trouble.insufficient to do something: · The data we have is insufficient to draw any conclusions.
► be in short supply if a product is in short supply people cannot buy or get enough of it: · Health workers reported that medicines and basic equipment were in short supply.· The unemployment rate was at 2.5%, and talented job seekers were in short supply.
► lack of something if there is a lack of something there is not enough of it, or none at all: · Fernando's eyes were red through lack of sleep.· It's lack of confidence, not lack of ability, that makes most people fail.· They threw the case out of court because of a lack of evidence.
► be short if time or money is short , there is not as much of it as you would like: · Money's a little short this month -- we'd better be careful about spending.· The military authorities considered that the need for action was great, and time was short.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► as
Word family· But they regarded the simple wartime orientation of the neutralisation regime as insufficient in the post-Second-World-War era.· Industry bodies have dismissed what has so far emerged as insufficient.· Any increases in spending on education were seen as insufficient by staff and students alike at major universities.
NOUN► attention· However, most of these methods paid insufficient attention to the highly complex nature of landscape values, while overemphasizing scenic attractiveness.· Pena was roundly criticized by senators who lectured him about public grandstanding and insufficient attention to safety concerns.· The failing of the more usual critique lies in its insufficient attention to empirical practice.· The underlying cultural patterns anthropologists seek means the implications offered by changing historical circumstances are given insufficient attention.· There is insufficient attention paid to the analytical problems to be addressed in biochemistry.· Certainly, insufficient attention is often paid to concepts of choice, self-expression and self-help.· The trouble with our system is that we overdo the disqualification and pay insufficient attention to requalification.
► data· Government scientists may be forced to declare that they have insufficient data to justify recommending commercial production.
► evidence· Unfortunately the true picture will never be established, for insufficient evidence survives.· They will help us explain the prosecutor 5 zeal to accuse on insufficient evidence.· There was insufficient evidence to identify a patron.· A subsequent grand jury said there was insufficient evidence of misconduct.· The two agents were arrested in May 1990, but were released a few days later on grounds of insufficient evidence.· But Weisberg said there was insufficient evidence to back that claim in the Menendez case.· There is clearly insufficient evidence for the most serious charges.· Furthermore a higher proportion of blacks were acquitted after trial, which again suggests insufficient evidence.
► funds· Staff at the Commission have claimed that it has insufficient funds to do this.· It was returned for insufficient funds, according to the suit.· Essentially those institutions with surplus funds lend to those with insufficient funds to meet their requirements.· The accused drew by cheque card on a bank balance which had insufficient funds to meet the sum.
► information· It gives insufficient information about the reasons for its decisions.· For one, with so little time in the field, there was insufficient information about routine operations.· There may be insufficient information, in which case the conclusion is exactly that.· It could be that insufficient information was available upon which to make a correct decision.· However there is insufficient information present in script for unambiguous identification of characters and words.· Changes will be deferred if there is insufficient information available to make a decision.· Where there is insufficient information supplied about a proposed assignee for a proper decision to be made on the question of consent.
► time· Unfortunately this does not always happen and when it does there is often insufficient time given to such training.· Simply expressed, they have insufficient time, inadequate resources, not enough basic interest and, crucially, other priorities.· For this reason, machine-cut trial trenches are most commonly used on sites where there is insufficient time for more careful methods.· The average stay is two years and this is considered insufficient time to master the workings of a complex government department.· For most this left insufficient time to build any significant pensions.· It is better to report that you had insufficient time to collect certain data than to produce half baked results.· Equally, the estimator may have insufficient time or resources to provide a breakdown of the estimate.
WORD FAMILYnounsufficiencyadjectivesufficient ≠ insufficientverbsufficeadverbsufficiently ≠ insufficiently
not enough, or not great enough: Insufficient resources have been devoted to the health service.insufficient for His salary was insufficient for their needs.insufficient (something) to do something The heating is insufficient to kill the bacteria. At the moment, there’s insufficient evidence to arrest anyone.—insufficiently adverb—insufficiency noun [singular, uncountable]