What do you call something that's always reliable, but that's never the best?
Is there a word for it? I am trying to think of something, but there's nothing I can really think of that exactly means that.
Word Request – Term for Something Always Reliable But Never the Best
word-request
Best Answer
There are probably lots of ways to express this, but it would depend on the context.
"Fallback" (n), or "Backup" are likely easy one word substitutes.
English tends to be less expressive via single nouns/verbs/adjectives, so if you went for a phrase, we may hear "If all else fails, there's always... x".
In fact, words like "dependable" and "reliable" already (within certain contexts) euphemistically express the meaning that it wasn't the best/first choice.
As in "What's he like as a candidate?", "Oh - he's dependable". But that's sort of more in a negative context.