subpar
Not good enough
Subpar means below an expected or acceptable standard.
The word comes from golf, where par is the number of strokes a skilled player should need—so subpar performance in golf is actually good.
But outside golf, subpar always means deficient or inadequate: The service was subpar, a subpar effort.
The reversal from golf's meaning is now firmly established.
Having too little
- inadequateNot sufficient for purpose
- substandardBelow required quality
- unsatisfactoryNot good enough
- poorLacking sufficient resources
lacking · second-rate · low-grade · shoddy · faulty · defective · insufficient · unacceptable
Doing worse than expected
- failingFlaw in one's nature
- strugglingExperiencing serious difficulty
- slippingLosing footing unintentionally
- decliningDecreasing in strength
unimpressive · inconsistent · unreliable · underachieving · weak · ineffective · unsuccessful · inadequate
deficient
Having too little
- inadequateNot sufficient for purpose
- substandardBelow required quality
- unsatisfactoryNot good enough
poor · lacking · second-rate · low-grade · shoddy · faulty · defective · insufficient · unacceptable · low-quality
underperforming
Doing worse than expected
- failingFlaw in one's nature
- strugglingExperiencing serious difficulty
- slippingLosing footing unintentionally
declining · unimpressive · inconsistent · unreliable · underachieving · weak · ineffective · unsuccessful · inadequate
bogey
One over par
fairway · rough · slice · hook · duff · shank · putting · birdie · eagle · green
- "Sub-" wordssubway, submarine, subtract, subject, suburb
- falling shortdeficient, lacking, shortfall, failure, gap
- inferiorinferior, substandard, second-rate, second-class, low-grade
- shortcomingsdeficient, inadequate, lacking, inferior, poor
- shoddinessslipshod, slapdash, hack job, botch job, botch
- povertypoverty line, poor, poverty rate, impoverished, generational poverty
subparsuperior
Higher in rank
excellent · exceptional · outstanding · first-rate · superb