so-so
Americanadjective
adverb
adjective
adverb
Etymology
Origin of so-so
First recorded in 1520–30
Explanation
When something is only okay or mediocre, it's so-so. If that new action movie had a few exciting scenes but an implausible plot and some uneven acting, you might say it was just so-so. So-so is perfect for describing things that fall right in between terrible and spectacular. A basketball season in which your team wins half the games and loses the other half is a so-so season. And a movie book that you didn't hate but wouldn't recommend to all of your friends is also so-so. In French you'd say "Comme çi comme ça," or "like this, like that," and in Swahili you might say "Nusu nusu," or "half and half."
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.
“I think that’s what separates great writers from so-so writers.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
Consumer spending, meanwhile, was just so-so in January.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 13, 2026
Energy’s outperformance is particularly interesting because the sector’s near-term prospects are just so-so.
From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026
The product of an upper-middle-class family and a so-so college, nose perennially pressed to the window—and to the grindstone—she is a workhorse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
Hannah starts to join me, but she ends up waving her palm in a so-so sign and shrugs.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
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.
