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

See Examples For:

not bad

The Sparks are half a game outside the final playoff spot, not bad given how poor some of their performances have been.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026

Current deals bring VPN Plus down to $2.99/month on the 2-year plan – not bad for Swiss-level protection.

From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026

That’s not a perfect batting average, but it’s not bad given everything that has gone on.

From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026

The men on these shows are not bad men.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026

“That’s horribly sad, Lord Hercules. But please go easy on us. We’re not bad people.”

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

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