Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

up to snuff

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.15 in modern English

Syllables: up- -to s-nuff
IPA

17

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Adequate; of acceptable quality; satisfying an appropriate standard.

Slang

adj

Mentally alert, shrewd, savvy.

British usage; Dated; Slang

Example Sentences

"About 40% of U.S. counties lack full-time public-health service. . . . Many registered hospitals are not up to snuff."
""Dombey," says the Major, with appropriate action, "that is the hand of Joseph Bagstock: of plain old Joey B. . . . a rough and tough, and possibly an up-to-snuff, old vagabond.""
"But the people, who prided themselves on being what they called üppen zie schnuffen, or, as we should say, "up to snuff," and equal to every occasion, had already seen a way out of the difficulty."

Usage

Slang
British usage
Dated

Inflected Forms

more up to snuff (comparative) most up to snuff (superlative)

Phrases

cut the mustard make the grade pass muster not bad

Frequently Paired Words

cut the mustard make the grade pass muster not bad

Synonyms

up to par up to scratch

Questions

What does up to snuff mean?: Adequate; of acceptable quality; satisfying an appropriate standard.

How to pronounce up to snuff

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