not bad

not bad

Better than average or expected; satisfactory. A: "How's your new schedule this semester?" B: "Not bad. I don't have any classes before 11 AM, so that's a win in my book!" I didn't think I'd like it, but sushi isn't bad!
See also: bad, not
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

Not bad (at all).

 
1. [Someone or something is] quite satisfactory. Bill: How do you like your new teacher? Jane: Not bad. Bob: Is this pen okay? Bill: I guess. Yeah. Not bad.
2. [Someone or something is] really quite good. (The person or thing can be named, as in the examples.) John: How do you like that new car of yours? Mary: Not bad. Not bad at all. Tom: This one looks great to me. What do you think? Sue: It's not bad.
See also: bad, not
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

not bad

Also, not half bad; not so or too bad ; not too shabby. Fairly good, as in Not bad, said the conductor, but we need to play the scherzo again, or The movie wasn't half bad, but Jerry wanted to go home, or Our garden's not too bad this year, or How are things going?-Not too shabby. All of the terms involving bad, which imply that something is less bad than it might be, date from the mid-1700s. The last variant, using shabby in the sense of "inferior," is slang of the late 1900s.
See also: bad, not
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

not (so/too) ˈbad

(spoken) quite good: ‘How are you feeling today?’ ‘Not too bad, thanks.’ Some of his recent books are really not bad.
See also: bad, not
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • shabby
  • not too bad
  • be up to par
  • be up to the mark
  • How's (it) with you?
  • How's with you?
  • so far so good
  • so far, so good
  • how
  • How's about...?
References in periodicals archive
But what makes 'Not Bad' Cypher Stage a sure stop for your Fete stage hopping is that the beneath it is the monumental Fete De La Musique: Rock and Roll Stage.
Fete De La Musique: 'Not Bad' Cypher Stage at El Chante MNL
New Delhi [India], Sept 7 ( ANI ): Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah has said that "politics is not bad but politicians can be bad".
Politicians can be bad, not politics: Farooq Abdullah
OBSERVING that the Bus Rapid Transit ( BRT) concept and design is not bad, the Delhi High Court on Monday asked the city government to respond by Tuesday on whether the Ambedkar Nagar- Moolchand BRT corridor could be continued with some changes.
Court doesn't find BRT too bad an idea
The Russian market will likely have a positive end of the week thanks to output of not bad stats in China and preservation of the oil prices above 100 USD per barrel of Brent.
Veles Capital - Daily bonds review, Foreign market - Jul 13, 2012
Nothing nebbish about that, not bad for a music video, and not bad for the Jews.
Drake Is Now the Man
"Not Bad for a Human" is a memoir of long time star of screen Lance Henriksen who has acted in nearly two hundred films throughout his career and has worked with countless individuals throughout his storied career, including a good deal of some of those megastars of the screen, as well as the megastars of behind the screen.
The Theatre/Cinema Shelf
He is not bad. He is the good guy Nietzsche laughed at
Toto Merumeni
Summary: GENEVA, 08 Muharram, 1432/Dec 14, 2010, SPA -- The airline industry body IATA unveiled a plan on Tuesday to replace lengthy and sometimes intrusive passenger security checks at airports with a new system aimed at finding "bad people, not bad objects." Under the project, an early version of...
IATA unveils plan for airport security tunnels
Lead single City Lights and album closer Bad Things are not bad summer tunes, but the rest are wishy washy and all sound very similar.
THE GHOST War Kids (Sunday [...]; music by Christina Savvas, Jack Daniels & Paul Cole
His 3-19 strike-rate is not bad, but he appears a different horse these days and I couldn't trust him after this effort.
Cuvee not a special one [...]; BETTING REPORT
That might not sound many but for someone starting out afresh in the cut-throat world of racing, it is not bad at all.
VIVIEN is taken to open her account
The father-of-four said: "My son is not bad, he is a good boy.
Shock as 'quiet family man' held in terror raids; ARRESTS Police swoop on five city properties in dawn raids
Not bad for a girl from Clinton, growing up with seven brothers.
Honored to serve
"We are not bad at set-pieces and we have worked on them and it is good when things come off."
Football: 'We didn't play well but ground out a victory'
Not bad for an iconic artist who died 20 years ago.
Rich & lemony