make the grade
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
It's also vital that your shades make the grade.
Rowland Jones, from Wimbledon Park Golf Club, was a promising golfer but never made the grade in comparison with the Great Triumvirate of Vardon, Braid and Taylor.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “make the grade” mean?
Succeed.
Is “make the grade” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.