as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard
a teacher who rejects substandard work without hesitation
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of substandard
Despite to this day being a thriving port city and with so many people so close to the sea, Naples has plenty of substandard fish restaurants.
—
Jamie Timson, TheWeek, 27 May 2026
The Department of Homeland Security has denied allegations of substandard conditions.
—Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 27 May 2026
Calling Southern schools for Black children in the first half of the 20th century substandard to those for white children would be a gross insult to the word substandard.
—Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
Deadly outcomes in more than a dozen cases could be linked, in part, to substandard treatment by at-times understaffed medical teams dealing with escalating detainee populations, according to a review of autopsy reports, court records and interviews with detainees and experts.
—Rob Kuznia, CNN Money, 15 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for substandard
Jamie Timson, TheWeek, 27 May 2026
The Department of Homeland Security has denied allegations of substandard conditions.
—Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 27 May 2026
Calling Southern schools for Black children in the first half of the 20th century substandard to those for white children would be a gross insult to the word substandard.
—Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
Deadly outcomes in more than a dozen cases could be linked, in part, to substandard treatment by at-times understaffed medical teams dealing with escalating detainee populations, according to a review of autopsy reports, court records and interviews with detainees and experts.
—Rob Kuznia, CNN Money, 15 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for substandard
Recent Examples of Synonyms for substandard
Adjective
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The third strand of anti-vaccine advocacy, that compelling vaccine use is unacceptable, is a philosophical claim, not one of fact.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 June 2026
-
There is, of course, Itaewon, which is historically more associated with foreigners and other outsiders, where all who are deemed unacceptable are accepted.—
Anton Hur,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 June 2026
Adjective
-
The second didn’t go nearly as well for Bussi as Karlsson and Howden scored on two of the Golden Knights’ six shots in the period to tie the score at 3-3 heading into the third, the tying goal coming off a Seth Jarvis turnover and a couple of poor defensive plays by Sean Walker and K’Andre Miller.—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
10 June 2026
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Heat radiates from the pages of this extraordinary novel about a poor family in rural Mississippi in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 June 2026
Adjective
-
But the truth may be that Anthropic is wrong about Mythos’ dangers, and that the government is taking a drastic action that could potentially hurt the US in the technology race with China.—
Reed Albergotti,
semafor.com,
13 June 2026
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But it was soon revealed that the actors were given the wrong envelope by accountants from Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the firm charged with counting Oscar votes, keeping the results secret and organizing and handing out envelopes to presenters.—
Tribune News Service,
Baltimore Sun,
13 June 2026
Adjective
-
The Browns are clearly in rebuild mode, with 2026 expected to be a lame-duck season at quarterback with Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders vying for the starting job for a season before the team uses the 2027 draft to select its latest quarterback of the future.—
Jim Reineking,
USA Today,
2 June 2026
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Initially blocked by recalcitrant Democratic members of the House, the legislation was reintroduced during a lame-duck session following the 2024 election.—
Andrew Cockburn,
Harpers Magazine,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
According to clinical literature, the human body lacks the functional gene (GULO) to synthesize ascorbic acid endogenously, meaning our vitamin C pool can be fully depleted within as little as one to three months on a deficient diet.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
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Many residents spoke during public comment to complain about the county’s traffic and deficient infrastructure, issues that Abruzzo said only will worsen without property taxes.—
Susannah Bryan,
Sun Sentinel,
6 June 2026
Adjective
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Especially defensively, where the Sparks had seemingly been getting worse.—
Marisa Ingemi,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2026
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The festival begins next week for the World Cup, but part of Poplar Drive is already closed, and some neighbors say the closure is making traffic in the area even worse.—
Ryan Hughes,
CBS News,
7 June 2026
Adjective
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Consumers previously wrote off Chinese goods as inferior, as Chinese manufacturers prioritized quick market entry over original designs.—
Angelica Ang,
Fortune,
9 June 2026
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Learning how to be the favorite, who plays under the pressure of expectation, instead of how to be the underdog, who plays with the freedom of the unexpected, can make plenty of players vulnerable against an inferior foe at the business end of a tournament.—
Matthew Futterman,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
Adjective
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Underneath Carrey’s wild performance, the actor was keen to inject an unlikely slice of empathy into a very flawed character.—
Simon Bland,
IndieWire,
12 June 2026
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Without data that is relatively complete, normalized and updated, AI will present bad information, which can lead to a flawed decision.—
Troy Holaday,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Substandard.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/substandard. Accessed 15 Jun. 2026.
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