Meanings
- informalnot comparableNeither good nor bad; tolerable, passable, indifferent.
The dessert was pretty good, but the meal was so-so.
2 more examples
[I]n ſome Iriſh Houſes, vvhere things are ſo-ſo, / One Gammon of Bacon hangs up for a ſhow; […]
1765, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Haunch of Venison, a Poetical Epistle to Lord Clare, Dublin: […] W. Whitestone, […], published 1776, →OCLC, page 5He [Robert Burns] certainly wrote some so-so verses to the Tree of Liberty.
1844, John Wilson, Essay on the Genius, and Character of BurnsSynonyms: average, comme ci comme ça, fair, lackluster, meh, mediocre, middling, average
- informalnot comparableNeither very well nor very poorly.
He performed so-so during the tryouts, and the coach was undecided whether to add him to the team or not.
Synonyms: blandly, indifferently, insipidly, moderately, passably
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveNeither good nor bad; tolerable, passable, indifferent.
adverbNeither very well nor very poorly.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivebeing neither good nor bad
adverbin an acceptable (but not outstanding) manner
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishswā swā
- Middle Englishso so
- Englishso-so
From Middle English so so, from Old English swā swā, equivalent to so + so. Compare Dutch zozo (“so-so”), German soso (“so-so”), Norwegian så som så (“so-so”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic بَيْنَ بَيْنَ, نِصْف نِصْف
- بَيْنَ بَيْنَ (bayna bayna)neither good nor bad
- نِصْف نِصْف (niṣf niṣf)neither well nor poorly
- نُصّ نُصّ (nuṣṣ nuṣṣ)neither well nor poorly
Bulgarian горе-долу, долу-горе
- горе-долу (gore-dolu)neither good nor bad
- долу-горе (dolu-gore)neither good nor bad
- бива (biva)neither good nor bad
Catalan així així
- així aixíneither good nor bad
Chinese Mandarin 馬馬虎虎 /马马虎虎, 馬馬虎虎 /马马虎虎
- 馬馬虎虎 /马马虎虎 (mǎmǎhǔhǔ)neither good nor bad
- 馬馬虎虎 /马马虎虎 (mǎmǎhǔhǔ)neither well nor poorly
Czech všelijaký
- všelijakýneither good nor bad
Dutch zozo, zozo
- zozoneither good nor bad
- zozoneither well nor poorly
Esperanto iele-trapele, iele-trapele
- iele-trapeleneither good nor bad
- iele-trapeleneither well nor poorly
Estonian nii ja naa, nii või naa
- nii ja naaneither good nor bad
- nii või naaneither good nor bad
Finnish niin ja näin, niin ja näin
- niin ja näinneither good nor bad
- niin ja näinneither well nor poorly
French comme ci comme ça, couci-couça
- comme ci comme çaneither good nor bad
- couci-couçaneither good nor bad
- couci-couçaneither well nor poorly
- comme ci comme çaneither well nor poorly
German so lala, soso
- so lalaneither good nor bad
- sosoneither well nor poorly
- so la laneither well nor poorly
- so lalaneither well nor poorly
Greek έτσι κι έτσι
- έτσι κι έτσι (étsi ki étsi)neither good nor bad
Hebrew ככה־ככה, ככה ככה
- ככה־ככה (kákha kákha)neither good nor bad
- ככה ככה (káxa káxa)neither well nor poorly
Hungarian szoszo
- szoszoneither well nor poorly
Icelandic svona..., svona svona
- svona...neither good nor bad
- svona svonaneither good nor bad
Indonesian biasa saja
- biasa sajaneither good nor bad
Italian così così, così così
- così cosìneither good nor bad
- così cosìneither well nor poorly
Japanese まあまあ, まあまあ
- まあまあ (māmā)neither good nor bad
- まあまあ (māmā)neither well nor poorly
Korean 그저 그래요, 그저 그렇게
- 그저 그래요 (geujeo geuraeyo)neither well nor poorly
- 그저 그렇게 (geujeo geureoke)neither well nor poorly
Latin plus minus, plus minus
- plus minusneither good nor bad
- plus minusneither well nor poorly
Norwegian passe
- passeneither good nor bad
Polish taki sobie, średni
- taki sobieneither good nor bad
- średnineither good nor bad
- tak sobieneither well nor poorly
- średnioneither well nor poorly
Portuguese mais ou menos, mais ou menos
- mais ou menosneither good nor bad
- mais ou menosneither well nor poorly
- assim, assimneither well nor poorly
- assim assim, assim-assimneither well nor poorly
Romanian așa și așa, așa și așa
- așa și așaneither good nor bad
- așa și așaneither well nor poorly
Russian та́к себе́, сре́дненький
- та́к себе́ (ták sebé)neither good nor bad
- сре́дненький (srédnenʹkij)neither good nor bad
- ничего́ (ničevó)neither good nor bad
- ничего́ (ničevó)neither well nor poorly
- та́к себе́ (ták sebé)neither well nor poorly
Scottish Gaelic meadhanach
- meadhanachneither good nor bad
Spanish así así, ni fu ni fa
- así asíneither good nor bad
- ni fu ni faneither good nor bad
- (yo) me defiendo (proficiency)neither good nor bad
- así asíneither well nor poorly
- regularneither well nor poorly
- tal cualneither well nor poorly
- ni fu ni faneither well nor poorly
Swedish sådär, sådär
- sådärneither good nor bad
- sådärneither well nor poorly
Thai งั้น ๆ, เรื่อย ๆ
- งั้น ๆ (ngán-ngán)neither well nor poorly
- เรื่อย ๆ (rʉ̂ai-rʉ̂ai)neither well nor poorly
- เฉย ๆ (chə̌əi-chə̌əi)neither well nor poorly
Vietnamese tàm tạm
- tàm tạmneither well nor poorly
Welsh felly felly, felly felly
- felly fellyneither good nor bad
- felly fellyneither well nor poorly
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with so-so
All rhymes →Cite this entry
so-so. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/so-so
“so-so.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/so-so. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “so-so,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/so-so.
Source: so-so on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.