minor-league
A widely-used American slang adjective meaning second-rate, unimpressive, or not ready for serious competition — borrowed from the world of baseball, where minor league teams are the developmental level below the major leagues.
Seen in the wild
Another poor minor-league start deepens questions around Astros’ Tatsuya Imai https://www.rawchili.com/mlb/691733/ SUGAR LAND, Texas — Expectations have diminished during Tatsuya Imai’s first month of Major League B…
The Wilmington Blue Rocks are half a game back of first place in the South Atlantic League North divsion with a 15-11 record. delawarelive.com/minor-league...
Oceanside’s Frontwave Arena getting minor-league hockey team https://www.newsbeep.com/us-ca/300933/ Oceanside’s Frontwave Arena is already home to San Diego’s minor-league basketball, soccer and football teams. Soon…
And of course, a card of the subject of that story. Played some minor-league baseball too.
Definitions
A widely-used American slang adjective meaning second-rate, unimpressive, or not ready for serious competition — borrowed from the world of baseball, where minor league teams are the developmental level below the major leagues. Calling something or someone minor-league is a dismissive verdict: it means they haven't made it, they're playing at a lower level, or their effort simply isn't up to scratch. The term extends effortlessly beyond sports into business, relationships, creative work, and everyday trash talk.
That comeback was minor-league — I expected way better from someone who talks as much as you do.
Comments
Of relatively minor importance.
“The Wilmington Blue Rocks are half a game back of first place in the South Atlantic League North divsion with a 15-11 record. delawarelive.com/minor-league...”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Oceanside’s Frontwave Arena getting minor-league hockey team https://www.newsbeep.com/us-ca/300933/ Oceanside’s Frontwave Arena is already home to San Diego’s minor-league basketball, soccer and football teams. Soon, the arena…”
— Bluesky· May 2026“And of course, a card of the subject of that story. Played some minor-league baseball too.”
— Bluesky· May 2026
Comments
(US) Of or pertaining to a minor league.
“Another poor minor-league start deepens questions around Astros’ Tatsuya Imai https://www.rawchili.com/mlb/691733/ SUGAR LAND, Texas — Expectations have diminished during Tatsuya Imai’s first month of Major League Baseball. The Houston…”
— Bluesky· May 2026
Comments
Have a better definition?
Add your own interpretation of "minor-league".
⚡About Tech, Dev & AI slang
The vocabulary of software engineers, AI researchers, and anyone living in a terminal or on GitHub — from LLM to MCP, CORS to vibe coding, agentic to enshittification.
See all Tech, Dev & AI slang on Slangora.
Tags
Other words near "minor-league" (M)
Browse all slang words starting with M.
Related terms
People also read
Semantically related
- Little League71%
(slightly, _, derogatory) , amateur, not worth taking seriously.
- bush league70%
(chiefly, _, US, idiomatic) A professional sports association at the lower levels of minor league organization.
- bush league69%
(figuratively, by extension) A low-ranking or inferior level among groups, professions, organizations, etc.