subpar
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of subpar
First recorded in 1895–1900; sub- ( def. ) + par 1 ( def. )
Explanation
Anything that's subpar is worse than average. When a football team has a subpar season, it is a huge letdown for their biggest fans. Subpar things just aren't up to their usual standards. Your subpar attendance at school may mean extra homework, and the math team's subpar showing at the district competition might keep them out of the state finals this year. In golf, subpar means a golfer had to hit the ball more times than expected to get it in the hole. Subpar is from sub-, or "under" and par, or "average," from a Latin root meaning "equality."
Vocabulary lists containing subpar
Lacking
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(S)Kin
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Chronically Dolores
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Growing up in Stockton, where a high concentration of braceros tended fields, Huerta said witnessing the workers’ subpar conditions drove her early activism.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
That isn’t to say that stocks don’t occasionally endure periods of subpar returns.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
On Friday, Pirro’s office asked a court to drop the charges against Hearn, telling a judge that “botched installation”—and not this Maryland sexagenarian—was to blame for the pool’s subpar condition.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
That kept things simple but frequently led to subpar returns, Leibowitz argued.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
“Yeah,” Lydia said, “but another year is a long time to eat subpar pizza.”
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
