close enough for government work

English

Etymology

Originally nonironic (meaning good enough to meet especially high standards); later evolved to mean good enough, though only barely.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adjective

close enough for government work (not comparable)

1. (US, idiomatic, humorous, derogatory) Adequate; acceptable as government work, imperfect but not worth the time nor effort of improving.
2. (Canada, idiomatic, humorous) Acceptable; equivalent to government work, neither worse nor better.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:satisfactory