no great shakes

phrase

informal

: not very good or skillful at something

He's no great shakes as a poker player.

Examples of no great shakes in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And God Created Woman is certainly no great shakes as a work of cinema. — Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 9 Jan. 2026

The Mountaineers are no great shakes, but Morgantown is a nasty place for newbies to get their feet wet. — Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 7 Nov. 2025

Again, no great shakes, but considering his safety blanket status all over the field, there’s considerable value here. — Tony Blengino, Forbes, 16 Oct. 2024

Its overall handling of mental illness is no great shakes either. — Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2023

While her Forbes article was no great shakes, Heather Morgan clearly understood that circumstances had changed—and might favor criminals like her. — Ben McKenzie, The New Republic, 10 Mar. 2022

Rhymes for no great shakes

• aches
• bakes
• brakes
• breaks
• cakes
• drakes
• fakes
• flakes
• jakes
• lakes
• makes
• quakes