half baked

H

half-baked

Meaning

• imperfectly or inadequately planned, prepared, or developed.
• hastily conceived or poorly reasoned.
• lacking thoroughness or consideration of important details.
• misguided, implausible, or foolish.
• inadequately considered or supported.
• lacking comprehensive planning.
• rushed or poorly thought out.
• premised on insufficient analysis or evidence.
• underdeveloped or poorly formulated.

Example Sentences

1. That was a half-baked idea; it would never work in practice.
2. It’s a half-baked plan to start a new business without any training or experience.
3. They came up with a harebrained, half-baked scheme to make money overnight.
4. The new policy was called “half-baked” because it needed more thorough consideration of the implications.
5. The proposals were seen as half-baked compromises that pleased no one.
6. Critics said the research was half-baked and the conclusions were unjustified.
7. The plan was so half-baked that it fell apart as soon as they tried to implement it.
8. With half-baked solutions and slipshod methods, the project was doomed from the start.
9. We can’t afford to proceed with half-baked guesses when lives are at stake.
10. Despite the half-baked arguments, the board approved the proposal.
11. Management rejected the engineers’ half-baked redesign and demanded a properly reasoned solution.

Origin

“Half-baked” is an old English idiom that originated in the 1600s. It literally meant under-cooked or under-baked at first, referring to food that was not thoroughly cooked. By the 1800s, the phrase was used in a figurative sense to indicate ideas, schemes, or opinions that were poorly thought out or incompletely developed—amounting to silliness or immaturity.

Over time, “half-baked” came to imply a lack of careful consideration, prudence, or good judgment. An idea, plan, or argument that was “half-baked” was hastily concocted or sketchily devised without proper consideration of the implications or potential downsides.

By the early 1900s, “half-baked” was frequently used in a scornful or disparaging way to dismiss ideas, theories, or proposals that seemed poorly substantiated, ill-advised, or nonsensical. Today, it continues to imply a regrettable lack of common sense, thoroughness, or foresight. Though it originated literally, “half-baked” has enduring figurative usage, suggesting a lack of rationale or reasonableness.

Food