How to Use so-so in a Sentence

so-so

1 of 2 adverb
  • The stock has been a so-so performer.
    — John Dorfman, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2025
  • In other words, the team is so-so.
    — Michael Lewis, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Just a so-so first half for a player elected for the fifth time as a starter.
    — Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 29 June 2023
  • Dylan Cease’s so-so walk year doesn’t appear to have cost him in free agency.
    — Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Nov. 2025
  • But that dosing mechanism only works so-so.
    — Noah Kaufman, Bon Appetit Magazine, 23 Sep. 2025
  • Consider this your sign to stop trying to make these so-so furnishings work in your space.
    — Sarah Lyon, Southern Living, 11 Nov. 2025
  • Take pressure off that so-so secondary by turning up the heat right away against Mayfield.
    — Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2024
  • The three primary forward additions have been so-so fits at best.
    — Jonas Siegel, New York Times, 13 Nov. 2025
  • Ripley won the match with a superplex followed by a Riptide in a so-so main event.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2024
  • Gonzalez allowed three catches in a so-so performance dragged down by a bad first half.
    — Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
  • The Slow Time ability can make a so-so archer feel like Legolas.
    — Eric Ravenscraft, WIRED, 3 Sep. 2023
  • Schatz’s method nicks them for so-so competition and for rolling up their huge offensive totals in a dome.
    — Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun, 8 Feb. 2024
  • The river also is fed by melting snowpack in Colorado, which this year has seen a so-so snow season.
    — Brooke Staggs, Orange County Register, 6 Feb. 2024
  • The 31-year-old has had a so-so training camp, which could create a decision point for the Bills.
    — Joe Buscaglia, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025
  • Colorado’s power play was terrible for much of the season, very good in March and then so-so in April.
    — Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 3 May 2026
  • Even an ultralight chair with so-so comfort will be more comfortable than sitting directly on the ground.
    — Suzie Dundas, Popular Mechanics, 2 June 2023
  • Things go from meh to worse when her best friend is laid off and her so-so relationship takes an unexpected and life-altering twist.
    — The Editors, townandcountrymag.com, 4 Apr. 2023
  • At 35, there’s always risk, especially for a guy who’s off to a so-so start and has already missed time with injury.
    — Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
  • So, what’s causing the Cubs to play so-so baseball after this year’s All-Star Break?
    — Andy Frye, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
  • After a so-so start against the Tigers, Sale fell flat against the Rays last week, yielding five runs in just four innings.
    — Julian McWilliams, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Apr. 2023
  • The Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes is coming off a so-so (for him) season but has zero to prove as a two-time champ.
    — Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 8 Feb. 2024
  • Behind every so-so movie, after all, is a potentially great director’s cut.
    — Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 22 Nov. 2023
  • In 2020, a late-summer dry lightning burst sparked scores of fires, turning a so-so season into the state’s worst on record.
    — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024
  • Despite a so-so season, the Penguins controlled their playoff fate this week, needing to beat two of the league's worst teams to claim a wild-card spot.
    — Mike Brehm, USA TODAY, 13 Apr. 2023
  • The 7-1 loss put a bad finish on a so-so 6-6 showing on their four-city, 12-game, 14-day road trip.
    — Marc Topkin, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Aug. 2025
  • The Texans and Colts simply are not equipped to punish the Ravens for starting so-so cornerbacks.
    — Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun, 8 Sep. 2023
  • Since a so-so game in Week 1, Campbell has allowed just six pressures and no sacks on 135 dropbacks.
    — Chad Graff, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Ferguson spent six so-so years in Green Bay, never catching more than 38 passes in a season.
    — Jr Radcliffe, Journal Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2023
  • Taking the long view then, 2023, is, at best, a so-so candidate in the superlative badness sweepstakes.
    — Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Dec. 2023
  • Milton Williams looked much more like himself after a so-so practice versus the Commanders on Wednesday.
    — Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 10 Aug. 2025

so-so

2 of 2 adjective
  • The duel on the mound was so-so.
    — CBS News, 4 Apr. 2026
  • On the field, though, their performance has been so-so.
    — Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 24 June 2026
  • The right shot can truly take an item from so-so to incredible looking in no time.
    — Sarah Lyon, The Spruce, 22 June 2026
  • But that dosing mechanism only works so-so.
    — Noah Kaufman, Bon Appetit Magazine, 20 May 2026
  • Better to have a so-so digital image than nothing at all.
    — David English, PC Magazine, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Consider this your sign to stop trying to make these so-so furnishings work in your space.
    — Sarah Lyon, Southern Living, 11 Nov. 2025
  • This is the detail that separates a so-so cleaning job from a truly clear result.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Drinks are inexpensive and overall so-so.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 May 2026
  • Look, no one is buying this book because a so-so looking white dude who’s clearly neither young nor old, wrote this thing.
    — Literary Hub, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Can Drake Maye bounce back after a so-so postseason opener?
    — Chad Graff, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2026
  • His seventh-place Calder finish was his only award love, and his postseason was only so-so.
    — Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 17 June 2026
  • There's a lot of information on these screens, and Zoho only does a so-so job of presenting it.
    — Alison Barretta, PC Magazine, 28 June 2024
  • The Rockies’ pitching, excellent for most of the trip, was only so-so on Thursday.
    — Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 30 Apr. 2026
  • The question will be whether Graves, who played center in college, can overcome his smaller frame and so-so athleticism.
    — Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 23 June 2026
  • Here’s why the deal is good news for Google, so-so news for Apple, and bad news for OpenAI.
    — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 14 Jan. 2026
  • The offense will have to get better after three straight so-so performances in the postseason, though those came against three top-five defenses.
    — Chad Graff, New York Times, 26 Jan. 2026
  • This season has been less of a fairy tale, featuring some tough stretches, a so-so showing in the Olympics and far fewer goals saved above expected.
    — Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 19 Apr. 2026
  • Such a trade could help their draft positioning and eliminate depth chart overlap if a so-so veteran can be replaced by a promising rookie.
    — Cam Inman, Mercury News, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Allen profiles as a slot receiver and also could contribute for the Chiefs on special teams as a kick returner, where the team was so-so last season.
    — Jesse Newell, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
  • The biggest Wall Street banks delivered an only so-so diagnosis on the health of the economy.
    — Sagarika Jaisinghani, Bloomberg, 17 Jan. 2026
  • Rutger McGroarty The Penguins have high hopes for him despite his so-so season.
    — Josh Yohe, New York Times, 16 June 2026
  • But if Willis is so-so or worse, there’s a huge credibility gap for this new Dolphins management moving forward.
    — Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 11 Mar. 2026
  • In Las Vegas, a so-so steak at the Golden Steer might matter less, given the institution’s stature.
    — Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026
  • Outside of Martin, the rotation has been so-so, and Venable frequently has employed an opener to make up for its lack of dominance.
    — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 16 June 2026
  • Instead, all four proved to be only so-so reality TV chefs and the judges never had to make a single Sophie’s choice between any of them.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 28 May 2026
  • One sophomore series that has been getting so-so reviews, Tom Segura’s Bad Thoughts, made a quiet return last week.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 2 June 2026
  • Joe, an associate professor at a so-so music conservatory, schleps up the city’s hills on a foldable bike while Angela stylishly picks flowers and food from the market.
    — ABC News, 24 June 2026
  • Critics have snubbed the film, while audience exits are only so-so, including a B- CinemaScore.
    — Pamela McClintock, HollywoodReporter, 24 Jan. 2026
  • Within Nanjiani’s so-so performance is a cautionary tale about Taskmaster’s recent casting methods and what this show both requires from, and owes to, its competitors.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 17 June 2026
  • The Sabres don’t have a clear need in their skater group given the development of their young forwards, so looking toward the net makes the most sense, especially given the so-so development of Devon Levi.
    — Corey Pronman, New York Times, 23 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'so-so.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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