insufficiently
adverb
insufficiently is spelled I-N-S-U-F-F-I-C-I-E-N-T-L-Y: 14 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,863rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, insufficiently means “Not sufficiently” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in insufficiently?
| Letters | 14: I-N-S-U-F-F-I-C-I-E-N-T-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 38,863rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is insufficiently?
Insufficiently appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,863rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce insufficiently?
Insufficiently has 5 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of insufficiently
- more insufficiently comparative
- most insufficiently superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does insufficiently mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
Not sufficiently.
The machine was decommissioned because it was producing widgets insufficiently.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Insufficiently in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not sufficiently:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | insuffisamment |
| German | ungenügend |
| Portuguese | insuficientemente |
| Spanish | insuficientemente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does insufficiently come from?
From insufficient + -ly or in- + sufficiently.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).