as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard a teacher who rejects substandard work without hesitation

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of substandard There were allegations of billing irregularities and substandard care. Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 22 Aug. 2025 For more than a dozen years, the Food and Drug Administration quietly allowed substandard foreign factories to continue shipping medications to the United States even after the agency officially banned them from doing so because of dangerous manufacturing failures. Debbie Cenziper, ProPublica, 13 Aug. 2025 CoreCivic, the for-profit company that operates the prison, vehemently denied the allegations of substandard conditions. Laura Gersony, AZCentral.com, 7 Aug. 2025 Meanwhile, training at the grooming academy was substandard, the government alleges. Justin Wingerter, Denver Post, 31 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for substandard
Recent Examples of Synonyms for substandard
Adjective
  • Unwavering loyalty Schrandt told ABC News that any deportations to Afghanistan are an unacceptable outcome.
    Chris Boccia, ABC News, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Cosmetics are not the only place that regulators assessed an unacceptable level of risk.
    Keyaira Boone, Essence, 5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • But prorating three years of player profits down to 12 months, as UEFA’s rule does, reduces the immediate efficacy of successful trading in the market, the very strategy that poorer clubs increasingly rely on to climb the ladder.
    Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Like most extended car warranty providers, CarShield excludes pre-existing conditions that existed before your warranty took effect, as well as damage resulting from poor maintenance, neglect or intentional abuse.
    Brian Sloan, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Shootouts are lame in comparison.
    Chris Branch, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025
  • On the other hand, Powell probably has little incentive to commit firmly given high lame-duck status and the fact that more employment and inflation numbers will hit before the September meeting.
    Michael Santoli, CNBC, 18 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Parasite The first non-English language film to win a Best Picture Oscar, Bong Joon-ho's Parasite centers on the Kims, who live on the wrong side of the tracks in Seoul, South Korea.
    Emy LaCroix, PEOPLE, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Joveljic stepped up and placed the penalty kick into his right-hand corner, while goalkeeper Brad Stuver dove the wrong way.
    Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Although no publicly available evaluation has classified Stines as mentally deficient, a number of coworkers and friends interviewed by state police said Stines was acting strangely in the days leading up to the shooting of Mullins.
    Andy Rose, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2025
  • In addition to widening the road from two to four lanes from San Dieguito Road to Via de la Valle, the narrow bridge deemed functionally obsolete and structurally deficient, will be replaced with a new 354-foot-long and 76-foot-wide bridge.
    Karen Billing, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • This was a classic Smith performance with tons of yardage and some risky throws with both good and bad results.
    Mike Sando, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
  • You were called something much worse, and [it was] accepted.
    Brenton Blanchet, PEOPLE, 8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The problem is a deeply flawed political system that repeatedly incentivizes the wrong choices.
    Les Rubin, Boston Herald, 7 Sep. 2025
  • These are flawed characters struggling at the top of the middle or the bottom of the top; one is on the way down, the other on the way up.
    Jessica Kiang, Variety, 6 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Substandard.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/substandard. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

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