Word.ws English Dictionary

leaves a lot to be desired

leaves a lot to be desired is the third-person singular simple present indicative of leave a lot to be desired.

Meaning of leave a lot to be desired

Verb

leave a lot to be desired (third-person singular simple present leaves a lot to be desired, present participle leaving a lot to be desired, simple past and past participle left a lot to be desired)

  1. (intransitive) To be unsatisfactory; to fail to meet minimal standards of acceptability.
    • The three cylinders of these engines are 18½ in. dia. by 26 in. stroke; and as the three piston valves were all between the frames, it resulted in the monoblock casting being weak, so far as the centre cylinder was concerned, with the result that the life of these castings left a good deal to be...1944 November and December, “Conversion of L.N.E.R. "B16" Class 4-6-0 Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 349

Questions about leaves a lot to be desired

What is leaves a lot to be desired the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Leaves a lot to be desired is the third-person singular simple present indicative of leave a lot to be desired.

Words near leaves a lot to be desired in the dictionary

  1. leavers
  2. leavers week
  3. Leaverton
  4. Leavertons
  5. leaves
  6. leaves a lot to be desired
  7. leaves a mark
  8. leaves a sour taste in one's mouth
  9. leaves alone
  10. leaves aside
  11. leaves at the altar

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: leaves a lot to be desired (page history and authors); leave a lot 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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