up to par

1. Also,. Satisfactory, up to a given standard, as in She didn't feel up to par today so she stayed home, or I'm sure he'll come up to scratch when the time comes, or She's up to snuff again. Nearly all the versions of this idiom come from sports, par from golf, scratch and mark from boxing (after being knocked down a fighter had eight seconds to make his way to a mark scratched in the center of the ring), and speed from racing. However, the allusion in the variant with snuff, which dates from the early 1800s, has been lost.

Example Sentences

Being in the store also lets you see and touch a product to ensure it’s up to par and meets your needs, helping you avoid a trip to the post office to return an unwanted online order.

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Although its wind speeds did not come up to par with some of the strongest storms in the Philippines' history, Fung-wong dumped large amounts of rain on the country, leaving some 4,100 houses either totally destroyed or partially damaged.

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“We didn’t play up to par in the trenches,” Skipper said.

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Owners should declutter their space, ensure that photos of the property are up to par, eliminate any unsavory smells, and consider if their home would benefit from professional staging, agents say.

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Still, he echoed concerns of other attendees, who said that safety precautions taken at the Wembley Stadium venue had not been up to par.

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Related Words

• normal 
• reasonable 
• wise