subpar

adjective

sub·​par ˈsəb-ˌpär 

variants or less commonly sub-par

chiefly US

: below par: such as

a

: below a usual or normal level or standard

subpar attendance

a subpar performance

Why would a major football school fire a successful coach following a single subpar season?

—Jerry Kirshenbaum

Because of phylloxera, vineyards have been inconsistent and yielding subpar grapes.

—James Laube

b

golf : having a score lower than par

His 19 birdies and two eagles gave him more subpar holes than anyone …

—David Barrett

… Augusta National never played easier. … Saturday's 30 subpar rounds broke a third-round tournament record …

—John Garrity

Did you know?

Since sub- means "below", almost anything that fails to measure up to a traditional standard may be called subpar. So you may hear of subpar ratings for a TV show, subpar care at a nursing home, subpar attendance at a concert, or subpar work by a contractor. If you played a subpar round of golf, though, you needed more strokes than you should have.

Synonyms

• bad
• bastard
• bush
• bush-league
• crummy
• crumby
• deficient
• dissatisfactory
• ill
• inferior
• lame
• lousy
• off
• paltry
• poor
• punk
• sour
• suboptimal
• substandard
• unacceptable
• unsatisfactory
• wack [slang]
• wanting
• wretched
• wrong

Examples of subpar in a Sentence

the service at the restaurant was subpar, to say the least

Recent Examples on the Web

This leads to higher prices and sometimes subpar output. —Bjorn Lomborg, Foreign Affairs, 15 Aug. 2017

The sharpshooting wing is a specialist, and after young forward Kendall Brown had many subpar performances for Indiana during summer league play, Swider had a chance to make the squad. —Tony East, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024

Our outreach team provides education about their rights, and on some corners workers have self-organized not to accept subpar wages. —Victor Moreno, The Mercury News, 18 Oct. 2024

One common critique about Cunningham’s game is his subpar motor. —Mat Issa, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined above