/ ɪˈnʌf; NAmE / determiner , pronoun , adverb
■ determiner
used before plural or uncountable nouns to mean 'as many or as much as sb needs or wants'
SYN sufficient :
Have you made enough copies?
Is there enough room for me?
I didn't have enough clothes to last a week.
Don't ask me to do it. I've got enough problems as it is.
( old-fashioned )
There was food enough for all.
HELP NOTE : Although enough after a noun now sounds old-fashioned, time enough is still fairly common:
There'll be time enough to relax when you've finished your work.
■ pronoun
as many or as much as sb needs or wants :
Six bottles should be enough.
Have you had enough (= to eat) ?
If enough of you are interested, we'll organize a trip to the theatre.
There was nowhere near enough for everybody.
We've nearly run out of paper. Do you think there's enough for today?
•
IDIOMS
- enough already
- enough is enough
- enough said
- have had enough (of sth/sb)
■ adverb (used after verbs, adjectives and adverbs)
1.
to the necessary degree :
I hadn't trained enough for the game.
This house isn't big enough for us.
She's old enough to decide for herself.
We didn't leave early enough.
Tell them it's just not good enough .
2.
to an acceptable degree, but not to a very great degree :
He seemed pleasant enough to me.
3.
to a degree that you do not wish to get any greater :
I hope my job's safe. Life is hard enough as it is.
•
IDIOMS
- curiously, funnily, oddly, strangely, etc. enough
—more at far adverb , fair adjective , like adverb , man noun , near adverb , right adjective , sure adverb
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English genōg , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch genoeg and German genug .