just passable; barely satisfactory; acceptable
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesidiom
just passable; barely satisfactory; acceptable
formalOften used to describe something that is not great but still acceptable or minimally meets expectations. The character '差' (chā) here means 'slightly' or 'roughly', not 'bad'.
Nà那
jǐ几
fú幅
huà画
dōu都
bù不
zěn怎
me么
yàng样
，
zhǐ只
yǒu有
zhè这
yī一
fú幅
méi梅
huā花
hái还
chā差
qiáng强
rén人
yì意
。
None of those paintings are very good, only this one of plum blossoms is barely satisfactory.
Zhè这
cì次
kǎo考
shì试
de的
chéng成
jì绩
chā差
qiáng强
rén人
yì意
，
dàn但
wǒ我
xià下
cì次
huì会
nǔ努
lì力
kǎo考
dé得
gèng更
hǎo好
。
The results of this exam are just passable, but I will try to do better next time.
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Jiǔ酒
diàn店
de的
fú服
wù务
zhǐ只
néng能
suàn算
chā差
qiáng强
rén人
yì意
，
méi没
yǒu有
yù预
xiǎng想
de的
nà那
me么
hǎo好
。
The hotel service can only be considered barely satisfactory, not as good as expected.