as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard
that's just a bush-league ploy to get cast on a TV reality show
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bush-league
The only thing worse than the optics of Jokic running 50 feet to shove McDaniels for a bush-league layup are his statistics.
—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
27 Apr. 2026
While Chad is giving bush-league Sandler, the supporting characters are ripped from the playbook of Ted Lasso—another sports comedy based on a viral bit, not to mention a massively popular show whose title surely figured in the development of Chad Powers.
—
Judy Berman,
Time,
26 Sep. 2025
A lot of times, these bush-league but prolific lawbreakers basically got a warning, then another warning, then maybe a couple of months in county.
—
Anita Chabria,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Oct. 2024
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
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
27 Apr. 2026
While Chad is giving bush-league Sandler, the supporting characters are ripped from the playbook of Ted Lasso—another sports comedy based on a viral bit, not to mention a massively popular show whose title surely figured in the development of Chad Powers.
—
Judy Berman,
Time,
26 Sep. 2025
A lot of times, these bush-league but prolific lawbreakers basically got a warning, then another warning, then maybe a couple of months in county.
—
Anita Chabria,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Oct. 2024
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bush-league
Adjective
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In their grievance letter, the detainees called the markups an unacceptable business practice with no apparent limit.
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Overt racial prejudice, long considered socially unacceptable, is increasingly visible in public life, marking a shift from previously subtle forms.
Adjective
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Stronger and more flavorful than in your original lame iteration?
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On paper, some of the six, all of whom are far-right conservatives, have enviable educational backgrounds, but the record has proven that each one is openly political and willing to rubber-stamp nearly all of DeSantis’ lame and unconstitutional policies.
Adjective
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Something told me that there was something wrong.
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The interest rate hypothesis points the wrong direction — the most rate-sensitive occupations, like construction, have the lowest AI exposure.
Adjective
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Because of that, these hands suffer from high production costs, poor durability against impacts, short operational lifespans, and there are no existing solutions that engineers can readily draw upon, Wang added.
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The extreme heat can also affect people who are physically ill, especially those with heart disease or high blood pressure, or who take certain medications, such as for depression, insomnia, or poor circulation.
Adjective
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That if you were deemed, as an enslaved person, if you were deemed troublesome or in some way unwanted, you would literally be sold down the river from the more northern states to the deeper south where you would potentially be treated even worse.
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Offer Real Value, Not Leftovers Most product bundles fail not because the idea is bad but because the execution misses what consumers actually want.
Adjective
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Instagram Plus is social media’s newest low—a company preying on our most pathetic impulses, for the price of a small iced coffee.
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After these first three majors — and after a pathetic showing this week at Shinnecock — there's no reason to bet against it.
Adjective
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About 220,000 need major repair or replacement, and 41,677 are rated poor, also called structurally deficient.
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What is often misunderstood is that any of these virtuous behaviors can manifest as deficient vices when underdeveloped and as excess vices when strong but unsupported by the other 10 character dimensions, as evidenced by Steve Jobs.
Adjective
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Thank you to everyone who read or contributed to this column over the years, who reached out to me with story ideas or tips, or complimented my terrible artwork.
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Visitors will see his Rough Riders uniform; the 1884 diary grieving his terrible loss; and the eyeglasses case, speech and shirt from the 1912 assassination attempt against him.
Cite this Entry
“Bush-league.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bush-league. Accessed 4 Jul. 2026.
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