substandard

[ suhb-stan-derd ]
See synonyms for substandard on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. Insurance.

    • not measuring up to an insurer's regular standards in undertaking risks: a substandard risk.

    • pertaining to insurance written to cover substandard risks.

Origin of substandard

1
First recorded in 1895–1900; sub- + standard

Words Nearby substandard

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use substandard in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for substandard

substandard

/ (sʌbˈstændəd) /


adjective
  1. below an established or required standard

  2. another word for nonstandard

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012