so-so
/ˈsəʊˌsəʊ/
"so-so" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“so-so” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Neither good nor bad; tolerable, passable, indifferent.
Corpus desk
Index EN-so-so · so-so · English
so-so · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | so-so |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈsəʊˌsəʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “so-so” in English
Rare enough to double-check
so-so is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈsəʊˌsəʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Neither good nor bad; tolerable, passable, indifferent.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for so-so, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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”). The correct English form is so-so, spelled S-O---S-O.
Definition
- 1Neither good nor bad; tolerable, passable, indifferent.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how so-so appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The dessert was pretty good, but the meal was so-so.
[I]n ſome Iriſh Houſes, vvhere things are ſo-ſo, / One Gammon of Bacon hangs up for a ſhow; […]
Etymology
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”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.