below par

Below average; not as good as desired, required, or expected. This essay you turned in on Friday is really below par. Has something been distracting you from your studies recently? Our food was rather uninteresting, and the service was really below par. I honestly don't understand why this restaurant is so popular! A submission that's below par like this isn't going to get you far in the contest.

See also: below, par

below par

not as good as average or normal. I feel a little below par today. I think I am getting a cold. His work is below par, and he is paid too much money.

See also: below, par

below par

Also, under par. Not up to the average, normal, or desired standard. For example, I am feeling below par today, but I'm sure I'll recover by tomorrow. This term employs par in the sense of "an average amount or quality," a usage dating from the late 1700s.

See also: below, par

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

below par

under par

COMMON

1. If someone or something is below par or under par, they are not of as high a standard or level as they should be. Note: In golf, `par' is the number of strokes a good golfer is expected to take for a particular hole or for the whole course. The recession has left sales a little below par in the past two or three years. Bad teachers could face pay freezes if their work is under par. Note: You can also say that someone or something is not up to par with the same meaning. The explosion raised concerns that safety standards were not up to par. Note: You can also use below-par before a noun. The other time I saw her was on stage at a below-par Brighton concert last year.

2. If you feel below par or under par, you feel tired or slightly ill. Note: In golf, `par' is the number of strokes a good golfer is expected to take for a particular hole or for the whole course. Women who feel below par are unlikely to perform at their best. After the birth of her baby she felt generally under par. Note: You can also say that you are not up to par with the same meaning. I'm still not quite up to par after my cold.

See also: below, par

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

below (or under) par

1 at a discount. 2 worse than usual, often in relation to a person's health.

As a golfing term, under par means ‘better than usual’: see par for the course below.

See also: below, par

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

See also:

References in periodicals archive

"I don't think it is the players who should be blamed for the below par performance in the ongoing ODI series.

Pak's below par performance in England due to bad management: Qadir

You get games like that when you drop a little below par when you expected to win.

Wolves were rolled over by the Rs

Has a fine record on the track and, although below par last time, is fancied to give a good account.

View from the training centres: North

Though a couple of players were below par against Sunderland, barring injuries, I would begin with the same 11.

FOOTBALL: Terrace VERDICT

and Sumisei Global Investment Trust Management Co., whose MMFs also dropped below par in November, are also considering joining in the class action suit, company officials said.

Nikko Asset Management to sue Enron over MMFs

22 February 2012 - Asian Development Bank has priced a GBP200m (USD316m/EUR238.4m) bond below par, Reuters reported.

-CORRECTED - Asian Development Bank sells GBP200m debt below par

Taxes were EUR184million below par the Department of Finance said.

EUR22.2bn in debt as VAT problems hit

John Randall (September 5) attributes the defeat to the Brigadier being 'below par'.

Letter: Roberto was underrated; Hugh Haycocks argues that prejudice against the horse's York victory stems from an inability to accept defeat at face value for Brigadier Gerard

FRANCE play maker Zinedine Zidane insists his side will be fully prepared for the start of Euro 2004 despite a below par performance in their 1-0 win over Ukraine on Sunday.

Football: Fully prepared for title defence

Shea said: "I think the result was more important than performance which was below par. We were so desperate to get a home win and I thought we looked edgy, anxious, and our play was untidy.

FOOTBALL: Shea: Result good, display poor

It was the perfect antidote to the below par showing at Crewe and will have pleased the manager, not because the result was better but because the performance was better.

Football: Perfect boost

Speaking at York's media launch for the new season, Johnston admitted Zindabad's last performance in the Sheema Classic at the Dubai World Cup meeting was below par but feels he can make amends on May 15.

York Cup nod for Zindabad

Paul Lambert, Neil Lennon and even Henrik Larsson have all been below par at different times but retain their managers backing.

FOOTBALL: WE'LL HIT TOP FORM

22 February 2012 - African Development Bank has priced a GBP200m (USD316m/EUR238.4m) bond below par, Reuters reported.

-African Development Bank sells GBP200m debt below par

"When you analyse the game, we were just below par and I would say every Ballymena player was below par.

THIS WAS FOR DIXIE; Swifts rally to earn point for banned boss Robinson