Describing Quality: English Vocabulary List

having exceptional beauty or excellence

"The music is sublime."

"The choir performed a sublime rendition of the classical piece and the audience sat in stunned silence when the music ended."

not exceeded by anything or anyone else

"Her beauty is unsurpassed."

"The chef's unsurpassed skill in the kitchen earned him three Michelin stars and food lovers traveled from all over the world to eat his dishes."

evoking a feeling of great respect, admiration, and sometimes fear

"The view was awe-inspiring."

"Standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon, the sheer scale of the landscape was truly awe-inspiring."

extremely good

"The food is superb."

"The hotel provided superb service and the guests were impressed by the friendly staff and the cleanliness of their rooms."

falling below the expected or desired level of quality, performance, or standard

"The service is subpar."

"The restaurant received several complaints about subpar food and the health inspector found multiple violations in the kitchen."

substandard or below average

"The food is mediocre."

"The movie received mediocre reviews from critics who said that the acting was average and the plot was predictable and boring."

having poor quality or being unpleasant in some way

"I had a crummy day."

"The hotel room was crummy with stained carpets and a broken television so the guests asked to be moved to a different room."

extremely poor in quality, performance, or condition

"The service is lousy."

"The service at the restaurant was lousy and the waiter forgot to bring their drinks three times during the meal."

extremely bad in quality, state, or workmanship

"The conditions are wretched."

"The refugees lived in wretched conditions with no clean water or proper shelter and many children became sick from the cold and rain."

standing out due to its importance or relevance

"This is a salient point."

"The speaker highlighted the salient points of her argument so that everyone in the audience would remember the most important information."

beyond comparison or unmatched in excellence

"She is nonpareil."

"The chocolatier's truffles are nonpareil and no other candy maker in the world can match their quality and flavor."

not damaged or weakened, remaining in a perfect or complete state without any loss of function or quality

"Her hearing is unimpaired."

"Even after the accident, the child's cognitive abilities remained completely unimpaired and she was able to learn normally."

meeting a certain standard or expectation

"His work is up to snuff."

"The quality of the new recruits was not up to snuff, so the manager had to provide extra training."

of poor quality or craftmanship

"The workmanship is shoddy."

"The contractor used shoddy materials to build the deck and it collapsed after only six months because the wood was cheap and untreated."