below par
Falling short, quality-wise
Below par means not meeting the expected standard—inferior or substandard: Her performance has been below par lately.
The phrase comes from golf, where par is the expected number of strokes for a hole or course, and scoring below par is actually good.
Outside golf, the meaning inverts: below par indicates something falling short of acceptable quality or condition.
I've been feeling a bit below par since the weekend.
- unwellExperiencing poor health
- inferiorOf lower rank
- mediocreOf only moderate quality
- lacklusterLacking brilliance or vitality
- unimpressiveFailing to inspire admiration
not up to scratch · indisposed · deficient · poor · unsatisfactory · under the weather · out of sorts · not quite right · bogey · second-rate · second string · disappointing · frail · weak · rundown · underwhelming · falling short · ailing
- Standards & Benchmarksbenchmark, yardstick, gold standard, litmus test, acid test
- falling shortdeficient, lacking, shortfall, failure, gap
- inferiorinferior, second-rate, second-class, lesser, third-rate
- ratingsA rating, rating, one star, five stars, rating scale
- Cricket Idiomssticky wicket, not cricket, bowled over, stumped, on the back foot
below parup to par
Meeting expected standards
up to standard · satisfactory · acceptable · adequate · up to scratch
below parin fine fettle
In excellent condition
fit as a fiddle · healthy · hale and hearty · in good shape · fighting fit
below parexceptional
Notably above the norm
outstanding · excellent · superior · first-rate · top-notch
low, below, perform, par, substandard, subpar, underperform