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so-so. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
so-so, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
so-so in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
so-so you have here. The definition of the word
so-so will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
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English
Etymology
From Middle English so so, from Old English swā swā, equivalent to so + so. Compare Dutch zozo (“so-so”), German soso (“so-so”), Norwegian så som så (“so-so”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
so-so (not comparable)
- (informal) Neither good nor bad; tolerable, passable, indifferent.
The dessert was pretty good, but the meal was so-so.
1765, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Haunch of Venison, a Poetical Epistle to Lord Clare, Dublin: W. Whitestone, , published 1776, →OCLC, page 5:[I]n ſome Iriſh Houſes, vvhere things are ſo-ſo, / One Gammon of Bacon hangs up for a ſhow; […]
1844, John Wilson, Essay on the Genius, and Character of Burns:He [Robert Burns] certainly wrote some so-so verses to the Tree of Liberty.
Synonyms
Translations
neither good nor bad
- Albanian: çka (sq)
- Arabic: بَيْنَ بَيْنَ (ar) (bayna bayna)
- Egyptian Arabic: مش بطال (miš baṭṭāl), نص نص (nuṣ nuṣ)
- South Levantine Arabic: نص نص
- Bulgarian: горе-долу (bg) (gore-dolu), долу-горе (dolu-gore), бива (bg) (biva)
- Catalan: així així (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 馬馬虎虎／马马虎虎 (zh) (mǎmǎhǔhǔ)
- Czech: všelijaký
- Dutch: zozo (nl)
- Esperanto: iele-trapele
- Estonian: nii ja naa, nii või naa
- Finnish: niin ja näin
- French: comme ci comme ça (fr), couci-couça (fr)
- Georgian: please add this translation if you can
- German: so lala (de)
- Greek: έτσι κι έτσι (el) (étsi ki étsi)
- Hebrew: ככה־ככה (he) f (kákha kákha)
- Icelandic: svona... (is), svona svona
- Italian: così così
- Japanese: まあまあ (ja) (māmā)
- Lao: please add this translation if you can
- Latin: plus minus
- Louisiana Creole French: pokapok
- Macedonian: така-така (taka-taka)
- Norwegian: passe (no)
- Polish: tak sobie (pl), średnio (pl)
- Portuguese: mais ou menos (pt)
- Russian: та́к себе́ (ru) (ták sebé), сре́дненький (ru) (srédnenʹkij), ничего́ (ru) (ničevó)
- Scottish Gaelic: meadhanach
- Spanish: más o menos (es), así así, pasable (es), templado (es), ni fu ni fa (es)
- Swedish: sådär (sv)
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Adverb
so-so (not comparable)
- (informal) Neither very well nor very poorly.
- He performed so-so during the tryouts, and the coach was undecided whether to add him to the team or not.
Synonyms
Translations
neither well nor poorly
- Arabic: نِصْف نِصْف (niṣf niṣf), (casual, dialectal) نُصّ نُصّ (nuṣṣ nuṣṣ)
- South Levantine Arabic: نص نص
- Azerbaijani: elə-belə
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 馬馬虎虎／马马虎虎 (zh) (mǎmǎhǔhǔ)
- Dutch: zozo (nl)
- Esperanto: iele-trapele
- Finnish: niin ja näin
- French: couci-couça (fr), comme ci comme ça (fr)
- German: soso, so la la, so lala (de)
- Hebrew: ככה ככה (he) (káxa káxa)
- Italian: così così
- Japanese: まあまあ (ja) (māmā)
- Korean: 그저 그래요 (geujeo geuraeyo), 그저 그렇게 (geujeo geureoke)
- Latin: plus minus
- Louisiana Creole French: pokapok
- Portuguese: mais ou menos (pt), assim, assim, assim assim, assim-assim (pt)
- Romanian: așa și așa
- Russian: ничего́ (ru) (ničevó), та́к себе́ (ru) (ták sebé)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Roman: koliko-toliko (sh)
- Spanish: así así
- Swedish: sådär (sv)
- Thai: งั้น ๆ (th) (ngán-ngán), เรื่อย ๆ (rʉ̂ai-rʉ̂ai), เฉย ๆ (chə̌əi-chə̌əi)
- Vietnamese: tàm tạm (vi)
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