weak sauce
noun
US slang
: something inferior, ineffective, or unimpressive : something weak
When it comes to employer-based coverage, the plan wouldn't do much … Honestly, this is weak sauce, and doesn't do much to alter the biggest, and one of the most dysfunctional, parts of the U.S. health care system.—
Pascal Emmanuel Gobry
Pascal Emmanuel Gobry… the laws they're looking at are pretty weak sauce, and their chances of passing are slim.—Matt Baume
Matt Baume
Examples of weak sauce in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
If anything, Norton will regard Pac-12 offensive linemen as weak sauce after facing Georgia’s starters in practice throughout his career.
—Jon Wilner | , oregonlive, 28 Aug. 2023
Chassis components from the Civic compact car lend the HR-V sprightly road manners but its 2.0-liter four-cylinder is weak sauce, and it's made even more joyless given that it's mated to a continuously variable automatic transmission.
—Drew Dorian, Car and Driver, 2 June 2023
Color options are weak sauce.
—Car and Driver, 8 June 2021
In a few words: bureaucratic weak sauce.
—John Canzano, oregonlive, 18 Mar. 2021
As trust busting goes, however, this is unusually weak sauce.
—Jan Dutkiewicz, The New Republic, 6 Jan. 2022
Be careful, though: The skid plate beneath that bumper is weak sauce compared to the thick aluminum piece Toyota bolts to the front of a Tacoma TRD Pro.
—Scott Oldham, Car and Driver, 28 Aug. 2020
Other than that, Suburbicon feels like weak sauce, impressive only in how pitilessly evil its main characters are.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2017
But this kind of stuff – throwing things at your own player -- is weak sauce and a bad look.
—Paul Dehner Jr., Cincinnati.com, 11 Sep. 2017
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Jon Wilner | , oregonlive, 28 Aug. 2023
Chassis components from the Civic compact car lend the HR-V sprightly road manners but its 2.0-liter four-cylinder is weak sauce, and it's made even more joyless given that it's mated to a continuously variable automatic transmission.
—Drew Dorian, Car and Driver, 2 June 2023
Color options are weak sauce.
—Car and Driver, 8 June 2021
In a few words: bureaucratic weak sauce.
—John Canzano, oregonlive, 18 Mar. 2021
As trust busting goes, however, this is unusually weak sauce.
—Jan Dutkiewicz, The New Republic, 6 Jan. 2022
Be careful, though: The skid plate beneath that bumper is weak sauce compared to the thick aluminum piece Toyota bolts to the front of a Tacoma TRD Pro.
—Scott Oldham, Car and Driver, 28 Aug. 2020
Other than that, Suburbicon feels like weak sauce, impressive only in how pitilessly evil its main characters are.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2017
But this kind of stuff – throwing things at your own player -- is weak sauce and a bad look.
—Paul Dehner Jr., Cincinnati.com, 11 Sep. 2017
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'weak sauce.' 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
1992, in the meaning defined above
Articles Related to weak sauce
Dictionary Entries Near weak sauce
Cite this Entry
“Weak sauce.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/weak%20sauce. Accessed 4 Oct. 2023.
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