ə ˈkjʊərɪts eɡ
Food & Cooking
formal
advanced
- Literally:
- An egg belonging to a curate (junior clergyman)
What does "a curate's egg" mean?
Something that is partly good and partly bad
Examples
- The film was a curate's egg — brilliant cinematography but a weak plot.
- Reviews of the restaurant have been a curate's egg.
- The economic report was something of a curate's egg.
Origin
From an 1895 cartoon in Punch magazine.
How to use it
Primarily British English. Used in reviews and assessments.
Similar expressions
mixed bag
mixed blessing
double-edged sword
Opposites
unqualified success
total failure
Related idioms
- piece of cake
Something very easy to do
- a piece of cake
Something very easy to do
- in a nutshell
In a very brief or concise form
- an apple a day keeps the doctor away
Eating fruit or having a healthy diet helps maintain good health
- bite off more than you can chew
To take on more responsibility or work than one can handle
- don't put all your eggs in one basket
Don't risk everything on a single opportunity
Use it in a practice answer
Try "a curate's egg" in a CELPIP-style Speaking or Writing task. The AI feedback tells you whether your word choice worked.