English

Alternative forms

• up to snough

Adjective

up to snuff ‎(comparative more up to snuff, superlative most up to snuff)

1. (idiomatic) Adequate; of acceptable quality; satisfying an appropriate standard.
   • 1945, "State of the Nation's Health," Time, 15 Jan.:

     About 40% of U.S. counties lack full-time public-health service. . . . Many registered hospitals are not up to snuff.

2. (chiefly Britain, dated, idiomatic) Mentally alert, shrewd, savvy.
   • 1846, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, ch. 31:

     "Dombey," says the Major, with appropriate action, "that is the hand of Joseph Bagstock: of plain old Joey B. . . . a rough and tough, and possibly an up-to-snuff, old vagabond."

   • 1904, P. G. Wodehouse, William Tell Told Again, ch. 7:

     But the people, who prided themselves on being what they called üppen zie schnuffen, or, as we should say, "up to snuff," and equal to every occasion, had already seen a way out of the difficulty.

Synonyms

• up to par, up to scratch

See also

• cut the mustard
• make the grade
• pass muster
• not bad