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I'm looking for an adjective meaning something between "satisfactory" and "good".

For example, let's say we can rate something (restaurant, homework, etc.) and give it 1 to 5 stars, but we can also rate is as 3.5 stars. Which adjective can be used to describe 3.5 stars, i.e. better than satisfactory/average but not good enough to be just good?

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  • I'd say it was not half bad.
    – TimR
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 17:30
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    You could say it was decent.
    – stangdon
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 18:05
  • You might consider Exceeded Expectations here. It has a positive connotation relative to your expectations, but doesn't veer too far from Satisfactory or Good. (I've seen forms use "Exceeded Expectations" as 4 of 5, as well.)
    – user11628
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 20:15
  • How about "above average"?
    – user3169
    Commented Feb 25, 2017 at 0:31

2 Answers 2

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Other than "not bad" or "pretty good", there are a number of synonyms that mean somewhat less than "good", but something more than "OK":

favorable, positive, satisfying, nice, pleasing, agreeable, commendable, gratifying, decent, fitting

The actual degree of "goodness" can vary with context and intonation.

She thought the meal was rather nice, as the soup was delightful, and the entree sufficiently gratifying; however some of the other courses were merely agreeable.

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    Note that some rankings (mostly on either extreme of the spectrum) are entirely subjective. I've been in meetings where two developers vehemently disagreed whether "amazing" was better than "wonderful" or vice versa.
    – Flater
    Commented May 31, 2018 at 7:43
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Perhaps we can try decent here.

This is defined as: fairly good, or conforming to the recognized standard of propriety, good taste or modesty

In context:
- "So what do you think about the lobster bisque here?"
- "Hmm, not too shabby, it's actually decent."

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    The problem with this suggestion is that things get a little muddled with your use of the word pretty. I'd have trouble discerning the difference between your the review of the bisque ("Hmm, not too shabby, it's actually pretty decent") and one that said, "Hmm, not too shabby, it's actually pretty good." It's tricky to pinpoint or quantify the strength of expressions like pretty good, quite nice, and halfway decent.
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented Jun 1, 2018 at 13:57
  • Good point, perhaps the use of pretty is unnecessary here. Edited to reflect this change, thank you!
    – Hanman004
    Commented Jun 1, 2018 at 14:00

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