weak sauce

American  

[week saws] / ˈwik ˈsɔs /

Or weaksauce

noun

Slang.

1. something that is weak, inadequate, inferior, etc. (often used attributively): I got a pretty weak sauce response to my complaint.

   His jokes are mostly weak sauce.

   I got a pretty weak sauce response to my complaint.

---

Etymology

Origin of weak sauce

First recorded in 2005–10

Example Sentences

But let’s face it: compared to Regina George, Bondi was packing some weak sauce.

From Salon

By 1967, a columnist at the Long Beach Independent had to defend his town to an anonymous letter writer demanding an expose of Long Beach’s gay bars and brothels, including the Pike, “that nightmare alley with its rock-bottom characters and perverts in plain view … ” The columnist’s retort was valiant but rather weak sauce: There are only three gay bars in Long Beach — down from nine two years before.

From Los Angeles Times

He has also written that Klain’s citation of his model to justify Biden’s continued presence in the race is, quote, “weak sauce.”

From Slate

Vance, Republican of Ohio, said it was shortsighted to send a “weak sauce” border security bill to the House, where Speaker Johnson has suggested it would be dead on arrival.

From New York Times

Even by his low standards of chest-thumping, this lie was weak sauce.

From Salon