insuffisante

Insuffisante is the feminine singular form of the French adjective insuffisant, meaning not sufficient or inadequate. It agrees with feminine nouns and is used to describe quantities, capacities, or performances that do not meet requirements or needs.

In everyday and technical language, insuffisante is used with feminine nouns such as une couverture insuffisante, des preuves insuffisantes, une ressource insuffisante, or une capacité insuffisante. The masculine form is insuffisant, and the plural forms are insuffisants (masculine) and insuffisantes (feminine). The word often appears in contexts where a deficiency or shortfall is being pointed out, from practical matters to formal assessments.

In medical terminology, the concept of insuffisance is more common to denote a condition of inadequacy, such as insuffisance cardiaque or insuffisance rénale. The adjective insuffisant(e) can still describe a process or response that is not adequate, for example un traitement insuffisant or une fonction insuffisante, but the noun insuffisance is typically preferred for naming the condition itself.

Etymology-wise, insuffisante derives from the Latin insufficiens, formed with the prefix in- (not) and sufficiens (suffisant, enough), signaling a lack of sufficiency.

See also: insuffisant, insuffisance.