leave something to be desired
/liːv ˈsʌmθɪŋ tu biː dɪˈzaɪə(ɹ)d/
leave something to be desired verb: to be insufficient in some aspect.
Verb
leave something to be desired (third-person singular simple present leaves something to be desired, present participle leaving something to be desired, simple past and past participle left something to be desired)
- to be insufficient in some aspect.
- 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
- […]the drawings of the bats, though very artistic, leave something to be desired as regards detail.1921, Foxes from Northern Argentina, page 386
Examples of leave something to be desired in a sentence
- 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:
Forms of leave something to be desired
| third-person singular present | leaves something to be desired |
|---|---|
| present participle | leaving something to be desired |
| past participle | left something to be desired |
| past | left something to be desired |
Questions about leave something to be desired
- What does leave something to be desired mean?
- Leave something to be desired means to be insufficient in some aspect.
- How do you use leave something to be desired in a sentence?
- Nevertheless, the trains are well patronised, for road services in the district leave something to be desired.
- What part of speech is leave something to be desired?
- Leave something to be desired is a verb.
- How do you pronounce leave something to be desired?
- Leave something to be desired is pronounced /liːv ˈsʌmθɪŋ tu biː dɪˈzaɪə(ɹ)d/.
- What is the past tense of leave something to be desired?
- The past tense of leave something to be desired is left something to be desired.
Words near leave something to be desired in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: leave something to be desired (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “leave something to be desired.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/leave_something_to_be_desired. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.