not bad

Idioms  

1. Also, not half bad;; not too shabby. Fairly good, as in Not bad, said the conductor, but we need to play the scherzo again, or The movie wasn't half bad, but Jerry wanted to go home, or Our garden's not too bad this year, or How are things going?—Not too shabby. All of the terms involving bad, which imply that something is less bad than it might be, date from the mid-1700s. The last variant, using shabby in the sense of “inferior,” is slang of the late 1900s.

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Example Sentences

Their coverage ratios are forecast to be closer to 60%, not as good as the average, but not bad considering the yields.

From Barron's

Bernardo: Yeah, I saw that and I'm happy that he feels that way because the players that he manages are not bad players!

From BBC

That’s not bad framing with which to consider the latest reissue box from The Who, this time for 1979’s “Who Are You.”

From Salon

"He told me: 'Mum, the job we were told we came to do has been changed, but even this one is not bad,'" she said.

From BBC

Danson: I think all this slowing down, being careful — well, careful is not bad — but I mean going, “Oh, I don’t know ...” is based on fear.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• adequate
• allowable
• bearable
• decent
• livable
• presentable
• respectable
• satisfactory
• sufficient
• sustainable