Definition of substandardnext
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 The charges alleged Mulholland lacked appropriate boundaries toward patients while employed at a women's medical clinic that provided substandard care. Janelle Griffith, PEOPLE, 16 Apr. 2026 Many were found to be substandard, overpriced or were not built at all. ABC News, 16 Apr. 2026 The zoo filed suit on March 17, alleging that Vertix and Barker Rinker Seacast Architecture (BRS) breached their contract by providing substandard work and materials that have led to leaks, rust and broken pumps in the Schlossman Shores habitat, which is home to five California sea lions. John Wenzel, Denver Post, 9 Apr. 2026 People who know how substandard these homes are don’t voluntarily go there. Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for substandard
Recent Examples of Synonyms for substandard
Adjective
  • Our current contractor’s price proposal and timeline to finish the bridge was unreasonable and unacceptable.
    Katie Thomson, Baltimore Sun, 6 May 2026
  • What happened was unacceptable.
    Teresa Liu, Daily News, 4 May 2026
Adjective
  • Injuries to key players on the Amazin’s contributed to some poor numbers as well.
    Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 28 Apr. 2026
  • Although poor students are disproportionately likely to receive special education in New York City, well-off disabled kids are the ones most acutely driving up the budget.
    Marc Novicoff, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Wallace and her collaborators scrambled to get into the water; the whale was swimming in the wrong direction, toward some docks.
    Jessica Camille Aguirre, New Yorker, 2 May 2026
  • What most people get wrong is conflating the theme of the exhibition with the dress code for the evening.
    José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 2 May 2026
Adjective
  • And getting all giddy over some lame light beer that has apple juice poured into to is just plain embarrassing.
    Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 24 Apr. 2026
  • This idea that just sitting with your face buried in your phone when you’re supposed to be in a social setting—that’s lame, right?
    Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Meanwhile, a prospective cohort study published in March 2026 found that breast cancer patients with sufficient vitamin D had meaningfully better survival and cardiovascular outcomes — and that 38% of women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer were deficient at the time of diagnosis.
    Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 30 Apr. 2026
  • Appropriately for a defense-deficient series, the Ducks capitalized on two transition sequences early in the third to take control.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Or worse, to turn it into a sort of prison sentence.
    James Wood, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
  • Still, from his horns and tattoos to the double-bladed lightsaber, Maul's bad-guy chic was hard to beat.
    Brian Truitt, USA Today, 3 May 2026
Adjective
  • Investors have also questioned the commercial viability of Novo's pipeline, such as its next-generation drug CagriSema, which was shown to be inferior to Zepbound in Novo's own study earlier this year.
    Elsa Ohlen,Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 6 May 2026
  • Millwall must win to capitalise on any points dropped by Ipswich, thanks to that vastly inferior goal difference, while Middlesbrough’s hopes of gatecrashing the top two are also dependent on securing all three points.
    Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 1 May 2026
Adjective
  • The Nuggets are fundamentally flawed.
    Troy Renck, Denver Post, 2 May 2026
  • DeSantis said the 2020 census was flawed and undercounted people in the state.
    Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 1 May 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Substandard.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/substandard. Accessed 9 May. 2026.

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