a most intelligent middle-aged mediocrity—Oscar Wilde
Did you know?
The Enduring Moderation of Mediocre
One of the things that is remarkable about mediocre is the extent to which it has retained its meaning over the course of more than four centuries of continual use. The word, when used as an adjective, has changed very little, if at all, in its meaning since it was used in a 1586 book titled The English Secretorie (our earliest known evidence): “Mediocre, a meane betwixt high and low, vehement and slender, too much and too little as we saye. . . .”
The word comes to English via Middle French from the Latin word mediocris, meaning "of medium size, moderate, middling, commonplace," and perhaps originally "halfway to the top." The noun form of mediocre is mediocrity.
Did you know?
People interested in words always point out that mediocrity doesn't mean quite what its main root would indicate: Why doesn't it describe something that's right in the middle of the pack, exactly what you would expect? Instead the words mediocrity and mediocre always suggest disappointment. A mediocre play is one you wish you hadn't wasted an evening on, and the mediocre actor in it should probably find another profession. A person can even be called a mediocrity, though it isn't very nice and you'd never do it to his face.
Examples of mediocrity in a Sentence
We were disappointed by the mediocrity of the wine.
He thought that he was a brilliant artist himself and that all his fellow painters were just mediocrities.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Teams riding waves of mediocrity The A’s returned home Wednesday following a three-city, nine-game road trip with an off day on Thursday.—Chris Biderman
july 4, Sacbee.com, 4 July 2025 Take notice of their work ethic, their attitude, their refusal to complain, and their unwillingness to settle for mediocrity within themselves.—Mark Murphy, Forbes.com, 16 June 2025 Dolphins headed for mediocrity in 2025 before 2026 rebuild
Dave Hyde: Next!—South Florida Sun Sentinel, Sun Sentinel, 19 May 2025 The franchise slogged through years of mediocrity until Haliburton showed up in 2022 and changed everything.—Zak Keefer, New York Times, 20 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for mediocrity
Word History
Etymology
Middle English mediokerte, mediocrite "moderation, medium size or amount," borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French mediocrité "intermediate state," borrowed from Latin mediocritāt-, mediocritās "moderateness of size or amount, intermediate character, limited ability," from mediocris "of medium size, moderate, mediocre" + -itāt-, -itās-ity
Share