to leave something to be desired
16
6.6
- idiom
:
dejar mucho que desear
- But I have told you before, your taste in men leaves a lot to be desired.
- leaves much to be desired
- still leaves much to be desired
- such evidence leaves much to be desired
So the style of ads and marketing leaves something to be desired.
- So the style of ads and marketing leaves something to be desired.
- My education was not was left something to be desired and I sometimes use terms inappropriately.
Examples
-
But your bedside manner still leaves a little to be desired.
-
It's your presentation that leaves something to be desired.
-
And her taste in television programs left something to be desired.
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In short, sir, she left much to be desired.
-
The food is truly wonderful... ...although the service leaves a little to be desired.
-
Her vocabulary leaves something to be desired.
-
Your manners leave something to be desired.
-
My mother's judgment left something to be desired.
-
In all Arab countries, the ratio of psychiatric beds to population leaves much to be desired.
Academic text (2003) -
Her attention to detail in the report leaves something to be desired and could be improved for clarity.
Synonyms
492
1.0
Fail to do what someone hoped for
210
2.9
Make someone feel disappointed by not doing what you promised
1
4.3
To make someone unhappy because something does not meet their needs or wants
Antonyms
How Satisfactory
Surface Forms
Morphology
leave + something + to + be + desired
The literal combination of 'leave' + 'something' + 'to be desired' would read as leaving something in a state of being wanted, which does not transparently yield the idiomatic sense 'unsatisfactory' or 'lacking'. The evaluative negative meaning arises from an idiomatic/older construction and is not predictable from the parts, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would likely not infer the correct meaning.
Etymology
Leave something to be desired comes from a simple image: you leave a thing not quite right so people still want more, which is the idea of being desired. So the phrase means 'is not as good as it should be'.