par for the course

Idioms  

1. An average or normal amount; just what one might expect. For example, I missed three questions, but that's par for the course. This term comes from golf, where it refers to the number of strokes needed by an expert golfer to finish the entire course. Its figurative use for other kinds of expectation dates from the second half of the 1900s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

par for the course

These findings are pretty much par for the course.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026

The court’s ruling was in some ways par for the course in that it marked yet another rejection of a 5th Circuit’s ruling.

From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026

Skeptics might eye Quantinuum’s latest earnings report with caution, but such figures are par for the course.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

And while that should be seen as par for the course, McCullum and Brook also deserve credit for their tactical calls on this trip.

From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026

They weren’t particularly good-looking teeth, but that was par for the course during this time period.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

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