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not sufficient in quantity, amount, or degree
钱不够用。
The money isn't enough.
这份工作对他来说不够挑战。
This job isn't challenging enough for him.
Often used with adjectives to indicate insufficiency in degree.
不够 + adjective/noun: 'not enough + quality/quantity'. E.g., '不够好' (not good enough), '不够时间' (not enough time).
不够 is a direct negation of sufficiency (够). It implies a shortfall relative to a standard or expectation.
不 (bù, 'not') + 够 (gòu, 'enough'). The compound word emerged in Middle Chinese (approx. 5th-12th century) as a negation of sufficiency.
Used in both spoken and written Chinese. Often appears in comparative structures (e.g., 'A 不如 B 够' = A is not as good as B).