no great shakes

Idioms

Nothing out of the ordinary, mediocre, as in I'm afraid the new pitcher is no great shakes, or What I did with this decorating project was no great shakes. This term possibly alludes to the shaking of dice, which most often yields a mediocre result, but there is no evidence to support this theory. [Early 1800s]

Example Sentences

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no great shakes

Haiti were no great shakes but they were getting on top.

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026

Its overall handling of mental illness is no great shakes either.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2023

Inheriting a floundering Rainbow program, he turned it around to go 18-11 his last two years with a high-flying offense, though the Hawaii defense was no great shakes.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 14, 2020

Which is salutary, because the actual mystery component of the movie is no great shakes.

From New York Times ● Nov. 7, 2019

Of course I had to get him home to bed, even though my knees have been no great shakes lately.

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

no great shakes

Example Sentences

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