as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard
a teacher who rejects substandard work without hesitation
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of substandard
Last year, China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate reported prosecuting 21,404 individuals for producing and selling counterfeit and substandard goods.
—
Haicen Yang, CNN Money, 5 Sep. 2025
Her relatives describe substandard education and health care there, as well as a generally poor quality of life.
—Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2025
Homeless people frequently complain about substandard living conditions at shelters, which can be understaffed and sometimes struggle to accommodate residents with mental health and addiction issues.
—Ethan Varian, Mercury News, 1 Sep. 2025
There were allegations of billing irregularities and substandard care.
—Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for substandard
Haicen Yang, CNN Money, 5 Sep. 2025
Her relatives describe substandard education and health care there, as well as a generally poor quality of life.
—Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2025
Homeless people frequently complain about substandard living conditions at shelters, which can be understaffed and sometimes struggle to accommodate residents with mental health and addiction issues.
—Ethan Varian, Mercury News, 1 Sep. 2025
There were allegations of billing irregularities and substandard care.
—Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for substandard
Recent Examples of Synonyms for substandard
Adjective
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Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable.—
James Bickerton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
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Other Republicans — especially in the House — see it as an unacceptable expansion of President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, which Republicans have tried to eliminate or cut back since it was enacted 15 years ago.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Similar protests occurred in Brazil over steep living costs and poor healthcare and education ahead of the country hosting the 2014 World Cup tournament.—
Connor Greene,
Time,
2 Oct. 2025
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Over time, dysfunctional breathing reinforces poor posture and scapular instability.—
Dana Santas,
CNN Money,
2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Another main issue is that the power grind itself now being the endgame is no longer a good motivator to play, nor is the Tier system with 3s not much different than 4s or 5s, and all past weapons being somewhat lame now outside of that system entirely.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
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Paine proposed a lump sum payment of £15 (£2,306 in 2025) to everyone reaching the age of twenty-one and a £10 (£1,537 in 2025) annual pension for the blind and lame, as well as for those fifty and older.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
There’s something wrong with them right away.—
Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
5 Oct. 2025
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Mike McDaniel said Wright did nothing wrong, but Miami needed more bodies on defense and special teams.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Will his shooting and floater game give enough offensive jolt to add some real spacing around a roster that, even with Kevin Durant, seems notably deficient in terms of spacing?—
John Hollinger,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
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Miami’s edge rushers also have been deficient against the run this season.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The game didn’t start bad for the Giants.—
Dan Duggan,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
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Apparently, Grier forgot his own words, because the lines that the Dolphins have built are collectively their worst this decade, something evident in a crushing 27-24 loss to Carolina, a game in which Miami blew a 17-0 lead.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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At 1-3 and trying to give some semblance of help to their top-notch defense and trying to stay alive in an AFC North that appears to be much more flawed than anyone thought a month ago, the Browns need a win.—
Zac Jackson,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
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By replacing this flawed model with one that accurately accounts for SANS physics, the team demonstrated that porosity has a negligible effect on reactor physics or criticality safety.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Substandard.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/substandard. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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