curate's egg

American  

noun

British.

1. something discreetly declared to be partly good but in fact thoroughly bad.

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curate's egg British  

noun

1. something that has both good and bad parts

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Etymology

Origin of curate's egg

After a cartoon by G. du Maurier in the English humor weekly Punch (Nov. 9, 1895): a meek curate, when served a bad egg at the bishop's table, replies that “parts of it are excellent”

Example Sentences

Couple this with the almost 20-year age difference between him and Zooey Deschanel’s love interest and you end up with a strange curate’s egg of a film.

From The Guardian • Jul. 23, 2020

It is much better than that, but remains something of a curate's egg.

From Nature • Dec. 13, 2016

There's always the risk that it may turn out to be a bit of a curate's egg.

From The Guardian • Apr. 12, 2013

And the other three, like the curate’s egg, were good in parts.

From Slate • Sep. 27, 2012

The fact is that "BERTHA RUCK" can achieve something better than these meandering methods and this spinelessness of characterisation; and it is distinctly disappointing to see her content with the curate's egg standard.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 153, August 8, 1917 by Various