mixed bag

plural mixed bags

1. Any bag containing a mixture of something.

   a mixed bag of nuts

2. broadlyA group of entities with few characteristics in common.

   The people I met at the support group were a mixed bag: some were grouchy pessimists, and others were cheery do-gooders.

   Synonyms: assortment, rattlebag

3. idiomaticSomething tending to have both good and bad results or characteristics; something having a mixture of advantages and disadvantages.

   Owning a car is a mixed bag. It is convenient, but also costly.

   2 more examples

   It was Villa, however, who posted the next moment of danger with another long-range effort from Young, forcing Hart - who had been a mixed bag throughout - to dive low to his right to save as Houllier's side continued to perform in a most encouraging fashion

   2011 January 22, Phil McNulty, “Aston Villa 1 - 0 Man City”, in BBC

   At the same time, it did not alleviate teenagers’ social anxiety and young users did not share more photos, as the company thought they might, leading to a mixed bag of results.

   2021 October 25, Mike Isaac, “Facebook Wrestles With the Features It Used to Define Social Networking”, in The New York Times, →ISSN