Usually, when ‘enough’ is used as a postmodifying adverb (after another adverb), it means ‘to the necessary degree.’ However in the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 58 in adverbs/phrases is defined as:
post-modify adverbs with ‘enough to intensify’.
The English Grammar Profile examples are all stance adverbs in the initial position:
- Strangely enough,
- Luckily enough,
- Sadly enough,
A search for the initial position in iWeb:
. _RR enough ,
1 . INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH,
5260
Interestingly enough, she’s also an authority on the causation of extreme pain.
2 . ODDLY ENOUGH,
4377
And oddly enough, he also requested two six-packs of Coke.
3 . STRANGELY ENOUGH , 1986
4 . SOON ENOUGH , 1922
5 . FUNNILY ENOUGH , 1365
6 . FAIR ENOUGH , 907
7 . SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH , 593
8 . IRONICALLY ENOUGH , 579
9 . CURIOUSLY ENOUGH , 437
10 . AMAZINGLY ENOUGH , 379
11 . EASY ENOUGH , 274
12 . LUCKILY ENOUGH , 232
13 . WEIRDLY ENOUGH , 209
14 . APPROPRIATELY ENOUGH , 205
15 . SADLY ENOUGH , 195
16 . NATURALLY ENOUGH , 191
17 . OFTEN ENOUGH , 173
18 . CONVENIENTLY ENOUGH , 97
19 . SURELY ENOUGH , 79
20 . AMUSINGLY ENOUGH , 68
21 . FORTUNATELY ENOUGH , 57
22 . FITTINGLY ENOUGH , 55
23 . PREDICTABLY ENOUGH , 53
24 . SHOCKINGLY ENOUGH , 49
25 . REMARKABLY ENOUGH , 43
26 . COINCIDENTALLY ENOUGH , 40
27 . INCREDIBLY ENOUGH , 39
28 . INTRIGUINGLY ENOUGH , 33
29 . SIMPLY ENOUGH , 28
30 . HILARIOUSLY ENOUGH , 28
*Note some of the following results do not match post-modification.
A loose search in iWeb for
_RR enough
1 LONG ENOUGH 118213
2 JUST ENOUGH 69645
3 WELL ENOUGH 56474
4 FAST ENOUGH 40410
5 FAR ENOUGH 38942
6 HARD ENOUGH 33328
7 HIGH ENOUGH 29764
8 SOON ENOUGH 27993
9 EASY ENOUGH 24981
10 CLOSE ENOUGH 20855
11 ODDLY ENOUGH 17620
12 FAIR ENOUGH 17561
13 OFTEN ENOUGH 16521
14 INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH 14981
15 DEEP ENOUGH 13108
16 EARLY ENOUGH 11019
17 LOW ENOUGH 10872
18 QUICKLY ENOUGH 10336
19 NEARLY ENOUGH 10133 not nearly = C1
Too many kids, not nearly enough food.
20 STRANGELY ENOUGH 8049
PELIC STUDENT: Korean, Female, level 4, grammar class
But, strangely enough, he came to my lab’s reception party for the new students.
21 NEVER ENOUGH 7590
22 NEAR ENOUGH 7557
23 HIGHLY ENOUGH 7475
24 FUNNILY ENOUGH 7440
25 LOUD ENOUGH 7376
26 TIGHT ENOUGH 5762
27 THICK ENOUGH 5310
28 QUICK ENOUGH 5140
29 EASILY ENOUGH 4938
30 COOL ENOUGH 4611
31 STILL ENOUGH 4261
32 GOOD ENOUGH 4123
33 WIDE ENOUGH 4013
34 USUALLY ENOUGH 3896
35 SHORT ENOUGH 3488
36 BARELY ENOUGH 3326 (after the verb ‘BE’)
And so when he passed away in the early 1990s, he left to his two sons nothing more than a life insurance policy that was barely enough to cover his funeral expenses.
37 ALWAYS ENOUGH 2862
38 LONGER ENOUGH 2807
39 IRONICALLY ENOUGH 2646
40 SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH 2616
41 SERIOUSLY ENOUGH 2327
42 CLEAR ENOUGH 2265
43 EVEN ENOUGH 2262
44 STRONGLY ENOUGH 2249
45 SHARP ENOUGH 2194
46 REALLY ENOUGH 2153
47 FREQUENTLY ENOUGH 2095
48 CLOSELY ENOUGH 2042
49 PROBABLY ENOUGH 2022
50 CLEARLY ENOUGH 1889
51 LEAST ENOUGH 1827
52 APPROPRIATELY ENOUGH 1821
53 BADLY ENOUGH 1727
54 ALREADY ENOUGH 1703
55 CURIOUSLY ENOUGH 1581
56 CERTAINLY ENOUGH 1564
57 AMAZINGLY ENOUGH 1513
58 ALMOST ENOUGH 1467
59 SLOW ENOUGH 1352
60 NATURALLY ENOUGH 1313
61 BIG ENOUGH 1299
62 HARDLY ENOUGH 1264
63 DEEPLY ENOUGH 1194
64 STIFF ENOUGH 1185
65 LUCKILY ENOUGH 1140
66 LOOSE ENOUGH 1051
67 ALSO ENOUGH 1041
68 SLOWLY ENOUGH 1025
69 SADLY ENOUGH 1020
70 WEIRDLY ENOUGH 946
71 INNOCENTLY ENOUGH 937
72 LATE ENOUGH 894
73 ONCE ENOUGH 879
74 SIMPLY ENOUGH 858
75 CAREFULLY ENOUGH 854
76 STRONG ENOUGH 850
77 NICE ENOUGH 786
78 ABOUT ENOUGH 742
79 LOUDLY ENOUGH 711
80 TIGHTLY ENOUGH 696
81 WHEN ENOUGH 677
82 DEFINITELY ENOUGH 625
83 REGULARLY ENOUGH 579
84 RARELY ENOUGH 568
85 YET ENOUGH 527
86 OPEN ENOUGH 521
87 SO ENOUGH 519
88 THOROUGHLY ENOUGH 519
89 RAPIDLY ENOUGH 516
90 ACCURATELY ENOUGH 498
91 ONLY ENOUGH 497
92 SURELY ENOUGH 495
93 CONSISTENTLY ENOUGH 457
94 GENERALLY ENOUGH 434
95 EFFECTIVELY ENOUGH 425
96 LITTLE ENOUGH 391
97 PLAIN ENOUGH 391
98 FIRMLY ENOUGH 372
99 FLAT ENOUGH 371
100 STRAIGHT ENOUGH 364
B2 vocabulary:
appropriately, barely, closely, deeply, effectively, firmly, highly, innocently, naturally, rapidly, sadly, simply, stiff, strangely, strongly, surely, thoroughly, tightly