as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard that's just a bush-league ploy to get cast on a TV reality show

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 bush-league A lot of times, these bush-league but prolific lawbreakers basically got a warning, then another warning, then maybe a couple of months in county. Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2024 The script constitutes a string of bush-league errors we’re not supposed to care about, starting with the audience getting way, way out ahead of the characters regarding who’s hiding what. Michael Phillips, Twin Cities, 7 June 2024 What happened in the California state Assembly truly was a bush-league error. George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bush-league
Adjective
  • But this false choice that some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable.
    Mark Davis, Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2025
  • But for a lot of people following Markle's every move anything other than perfection is unacceptable.
    Alanna Bennett, refinery29.com, 14 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • As holidays go, however, Flag Day can feel a bit lame.
    Kevin Fisher-Paulson, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 June 2021
  • My 11-year-old loved watching the pups roll balls and play a giant floor piano, but for non-dog owners (guilty as charged), parts of the series—like dressing dogs in little hats and outfits for a Parisian fashion show—feel lame.
    Tim Neville, Outside Online, 23 Nov. 2020
Adjective
  • The question of the night is the choice between selling out their souls to the vapid American tourists at the Tropicana nightclub (bad) or singing for their own people on the wrong side of the tracks (good).
    Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 20 Mar. 2025
  • But Nicol isn’t wrong to think that the real entertainment is coming from inside the house, where the spry Gita may love nothing more than to be on camera.
    Stephen Saito, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • But there is another concerning trend and area that has to be improved — their poor record on second balls.
    Rob Tanner, The Athletic, 14 Mar. 2025
  • Without a clear profit strategy, high sales numbers can mask underlying issues like bloated expenses, poor cash flow, or razor-thin margins.
    Melissa Houston, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Jayson Tatum kept the Celtics in the game most of the night with 33 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, but Brown had one of his worst games of the year with just 10 points.
    Jay King, The Athletic, 13 Mar. 2025
  • The market, however, believes the opposite: That a trade war is bad, is easy to lose, and could plunge the U.S. into an avoidable recession.
    Rebecca Falconer, Axios, 12 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Michael Gandolfini pops up as a slimy Fisk mayoral staffer who wouldn’t look out of place in this magazine’s recent cover featuring the new young right, and his playing both pathetic and vaguely sympathetic is very fun to watch.
    Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2025
  • How to decide which of these pathetic characters will get his fading masculinity restored?
    Peter Debruge, Variety, 2 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Kraken was also accused of having deficient internal controls and record keeping.
    Jonathan Stempel, USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2025
  • Those studies show that supplementing with vitamin A in people who are deficient can lead to milder infections with diseases like measles.
    Alice Park, TIME, 3 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Thuney, who was traded to the Chicago Bears for a fourth-round pick in 2026, held up fairly well — even earning team MVP honors — until the disastrous Super Bowl LIX when Patrick Mahomes was sacked six times and hit five more.
    Jeff Fedotin, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
  • According to a study by Beacon Economics, this has been particularly disastrous for workers, ages 16 to 19.
    Matt Fleming, Orange County Register, 8 Mar. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bush-league.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bush-league. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!