leave something to be desired

present singular third person leaves something to be desired · participle present leaving something to be desired · participle past left something to be desired · past left something to be desired

1. idiomaticto be insufficient in some aspect.

   […]the drawings of the bats, though very artistic, leave something to be desired as regards detail.

   1921, Foxes from Northern Argentina, page 386

   3 more examples

   These instructions are too short not to leave something to be desired under certain circumstances; but the knowledge of veterinary surgeons will supply whatever may be incomplete[…]

   1835, An essay on the use of chlorurets of oxide of sodium and of lime, page 35

   Nevertheless, the trains are well patronised, for road services in the district leave something to be desired.

   1951 November, R. K. Kirkland, “The Wimbledon and West Croydon Line of the Southern Region”, in Railway Magazine, page 726

   To say Cuban train toilets leave something to be desired would not just be an understatement, it would suggest the person speaking inhabited an altogether alien reality.

   2013, Slow train to Guantanamo : a rail odyssey through Cuba in the last days of the Castros, page 125