bush-league

1 of 2

adjective

: being of an inferior class or group of its kind : marked by a lack of sophistication or professionalism

bush league

2 of 2

noun

bush leaguer noun

Examples of bush-league in a Sentence

Adjective that's just a bush-league ploy to get cast on a TV reality show
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
The script constitutes a string of bush-league errors we’re not supposed to care about, starting with the audience getting way, way out ahead of the characters regarding who’s hiding what. Michael Phillips, Twin Cities, 7 June 2024 What happened in the California state Assembly truly was a bush-league error. George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2023
Noun
But, while thrifty, those are the sort of hacks that style insiders consider bush league. Aria Darcella, WSJ, 29 June 2023 On air:Arizona Diamondbacks refute 'bush league' comments from San Francisco Giants' Jon Miller What to know: World Baseball Classic returns to Phoenix's Chase Field The other offerings are different, with the exception of his slider, which has long been his go-to off-speed pitch. The Arizona Republic, 8 Mar. 2023 Sure, the Bucs are trying to get ready for the playoffs, but this was bush league. Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press, 26 Dec. 2020 In contemporary universities, in the social sciences and humanities, calling oneself Dr. is thought bush league. Joseph Epstein, WSJ, 11 Dec. 2020 The chief antagonist to these concerned scientists is Edward Teller (Joel Basman), the most fervent advocate for the construction of a hydrogen bomb that would make the atomic blasts in Japan seem almost bush league. Stephen Farber, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Jan. 2020 Highlighting only Kitchens’ blunders when calling identical plays and hiding his successes is deceitful and bush league. Ellis L. Williams, cleveland, 17 Oct. 2019 Not to be outdone, Richard Mille, grand master of alternative material innovation, is at the final stage of crafting a watch case from a material that relegates even unobtanium to the bush leagues by its sheer badassitude. Wei Koh, A-LIST, 3 Apr. 2018 The other maddening thing is that the Zinke scandal seems almost bush league in the swampy World Series of corruption that is Donald Trump’s Washington. Will Bunch, Philly.com, 5 Oct. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bush-league.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1908, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1896, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bush-league was in 1896

Dictionary Entries Near bush-league

bush league

bush-league

bush lespedeza

Cite this Entry

“Bush-league.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bush-league. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!