substandard

[suhb-stan-derd]

adjective

1. below standard or less than adequate.

   substandard housing conditions.

2. noting or pertaining to a dialect or variety of a language or a feature of usage that is often considered by others to mark its user as uneducated; nonstandard.

3. Insurance.

   1. not measuring up to an insurer's regular standards in undertaking risks.

      a substandard risk.

   2. pertaining to insurance written to cover substandard risks.

substandard

/ sʌbˈstændəd /

adjective

1. below an established or required standard

2. another word for nonstandard

Word History and Origins

Origin of substandard¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; sub- + standard

Example Sentences

The peso has weakened in recent months due to the graft controversy surrounding how public funds meant for flood-control infrastructure allegedly went toward substandard or nonexistent projects.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Tenants who want to leave can give two months' notice, which the government says will prevent tenants paying rent for substandard properties.

Read more on BBC

The government says this will "end the injustice of tenants being trapped paying rent for substandard properties".

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The NAO, which monitors how public money is spent, cited an "under-skilled workforce", businesses cutting corners and uncertainty over which standards to apply to which jobs, as some of the reasons for the substandard work.

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But Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson said the whales would face similarly substandard treatment as "public entertainment" in the Chinese park, and denied Marineland's request.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• cheap 
• inadequate 
• lousy 
• shoddy