"leave a lot to be desired" meaning in All languages combined

See leave a lot to be desired on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Forms: leaves a lot to be desired [present, singular, third-person], leaving a lot to be desired [participle, present], left a lot to be desired [participle, past], left a lot to be desired [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|leave<,,left> a lot to be desired}} leave a lot to be desired (third-person singular simple present leaves a lot to be desired, present participle leaving a lot to be desired, simple past and past participle left a lot to be desired)
  1. (intransitive) To be unsatisfactory; to fail to meet minimal standards of acceptability. Tags: intransitive Synonyms: leave much to be desired Translations (Translations): mít k dokonalosti daleko (Czech), te wensen overlaten (Dutch), jättää toivomisen varaa (Finnish), laisser à désirer (French), viel zu wünschen übrig lassen (German), pozostawiać wiele do życzenia [imperfective] (Polish), pozostawić wiele do życzenia [perfective] (Polish), deixar a desejar (Portuguese), оставлять желать лучшего (ostavljatʹ želatʹ lučševo) (Russian), dejar mucho que desear (Spanish)

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "leaves a lot to be desired",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "leaving a lot to be desired",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "left a lot to be desired",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "left a lot to be desired",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "leave<,,left> a lot to be desired"
      },
      "expansion": "leave a lot to be desired (third-person singular simple present leaves a lot to be desired, present participle leaving a lot to be desired, simple past and past participle left a lot to be desired)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
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        },
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Czech translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1944 November and December, “Conversion of L.N.E.R. \"B16\" Class 4-6-0 Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 349:",
          "text": "The three cylinders of these engines are 18½ in. dia. by 26 in. stroke; and as the three piston valves were all between the frames, it resulted in the monoblock casting being weak, so far as the centre cylinder was concerned, with the result that the life of these castings left a good deal to be desired.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be unsatisfactory; to fail to meet minimal standards of acceptability."
      ],
      "id": "en-leave_a_lot_to_be_desired-en-verb-mvsR8Iff",
      "links": [
        [
          "unsatisfactory",
          "unsatisfactory"
        ],
        [
          "fail",
          "fail"
        ],
        [
          "meet",
          "meet"
        ],
        [
          "minimal",
          "minimal"
        ],
        [
          "standard",
          "standard"
        ],
        [
          "acceptability",
          "acceptability"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To be unsatisfactory; to fail to meet minimal standards of acceptability."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "leave much to be desired"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "mít k dokonalosti daleko"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "te wensen overlaten"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "jättää toivomisen varaa"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "laisser à désirer"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "viel zu wünschen übrig lassen"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "pozostawiać wiele do życzenia"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "pozostawić wiele do życzenia"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "deixar a desejar"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "ostavljatʹ želatʹ lučševo",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "оставлять желать лучшего"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "dejar mucho que desear"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "leave a lot to be desired"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "leaves a lot to be desired",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "leaving a lot to be desired",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "left a lot to be desired",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "left a lot to be desired",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "leave<,,left> a lot to be desired"
      },
      "expansion": "leave a lot to be desired (third-person singular simple present leaves a lot to be desired, present participle leaving a lot to be desired, simple past and past participle left a lot to be desired)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Czech translations",
        "Terms with Dutch translations",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Portuguese translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Translation table header lacks gloss"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1944 November and December, “Conversion of L.N.E.R. \"B16\" Class 4-6-0 Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 349:",
          "text": "The three cylinders of these engines are 18½ in. dia. by 26 in. stroke; and as the three piston valves were all between the frames, it resulted in the monoblock casting being weak, so far as the centre cylinder was concerned, with the result that the life of these castings left a good deal to be desired.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be unsatisfactory; to fail to meet minimal standards of acceptability."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "unsatisfactory",
          "unsatisfactory"
        ],
        [
          "fail",
          "fail"
        ],
        [
          "meet",
          "meet"
        ],
        [
          "minimal",
          "minimal"
        ],
        [
          "standard",
          "standard"
        ],
        [
          "acceptability",
          "acceptability"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To be unsatisfactory; to fail to meet minimal standards of acceptability."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "leave much to be desired"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "mít k dokonalosti daleko"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "te wensen overlaten"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "jättää toivomisen varaa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "laisser à désirer"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "viel zu wünschen übrig lassen"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "pozostawiać wiele do życzenia"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "pozostawić wiele do życzenia"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "deixar a desejar"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "ostavljatʹ želatʹ lučševo",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "оставлять желать лучшего"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "dejar mucho que desear"
    }
  ],
  "word": "leave a lot to be desired"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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