close enough for government work
Adequate, not excellent
Close enough for government work means adequate but not excellent—meeting minimum requirements without extra effort or precision.
The phrase is mildly cynical, implying that government standards are lower than private sector ones, or that bureaucratic work rewards mere compliance over quality: The shelves are a little crooked, but close enough for government work.
Sometimes used self-deprecatingly to excuse imperfect results.
- satisfactoryMeeting minimum requirements
- sufficientMeeting minimum requirements
- adequateBarely meeting standards
- approximateNearly accurate but inexact
- near missNarrowly averted incident
slapdash · mediocrity · half-baked · rubber-stamping · red tape · compromise · bare minimum · inefficiency · passable · acceptable · decent · nothing to write home about · bureaucracy · paper pusher · subpar · workable · public sector · civil service
close enough for government workpixel-perfect
Aligned to exact grid
flawless · picture-perfect · immaculate · precision engineering · surgical precision
close enough for government workgoing the extra mile
Surpassing what's asked
above and beyond · leaving no stone unturned · craftsmanship · painstaking · meticulous
close enough for government workperfectionism
Compulsive pursuit of flawlessness
pixel-perfect · to the letter · by the book · letter-perfect · surgical precision
closer, closest, closeness, closing, enough, government, govern, governor, governess