Satisfactory

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /sætɪsˈfækt(ə)ɹi/

Definitions

1. Meeting the required standard or expectation; adequate or acceptable for a particular purpose
2. Having a quality or level that is good enough to fulfill a need or meet standards
3. Being sufficiently good or acceptable to satisfy established criteria or expectations

Etymology: The word is built on a Latin verb you probably know in another form: "satisfacere", meaning "to do enough," from "satis" (enough) and "facere" (to make or do). The English verb "satisfy" comes from the same source, so "satisfactory" is essentially the adjective of "satisfy": something that does enough to meet a need. Its sense of "adequate" rather than "delighted" follows naturally from that root idea of having done enough. The adjective reached English by way of Middle French "satisfactoire", which itself descends from the Late Latin adjective "satisfactorius", formed on the past participle "satisfactus" of "satisfacere". So the word passed through French before settling into English, a route shared by many formal words of this kind.

Synonyms: acceptable, adequate

Antonyms: unsatisfactory, inadequate