commendable
adj.deserving praise or respect. You use this to describe someone's actions or efforts when they have done a good job, even if they did not succeed completely.
adj.deserving of praise or formal recognition. Often used to describe efforts, qualities, or actions that meet a high standard of morality or diligence.
“Your hard work on this project is truly commendable.”
“The team made a commendable effort to finish the report on time despite the sudden power outage.”
“While the final results fell short of the ambitious targets, the committee noted that the staff's dedication to the new safety protocols was highly commendable.”
Typically used as a predicative adjective after linking verbs like 'be' or 'seem', or as an attributive adjective before a noun.
From Middle English commendable, from Middle French commendable, from Latin commendabilis, from commendare (“to commend, intrust to”), from com- + mandare (“to commit, intrust, enjoin”), from manus (“hand”) + dare (“to put”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.