mediocrity

noun

me·​di·​oc·​ri·​ty ˌmē-dē-ˈä-krə-tē 

plural mediocrities

1

a

: the quality or state of being mediocre

came to terms with his mediocrity

b

: moderate ability or value

fed up with the mediocrity of the local schools

2

: a mediocre person

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

The franchise slogged through years of mediocrity until Haliburton showed up in 2022 and changed everything. —Zak Keefer, New York Times, 20 June 2025

The organizations that break through this cycle of mediocrity are those that dare to articulate something worth believing in—something that transforms a job into a calling and a paycheck into participation in something meaningful. —Aurelien Mangano, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025

As a player, Posey saw a lot of mediocrity from the Padres teams. —Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 June 2025

In an industry that can walk in endless circles of mediocrity, Lance has his compass set in a different direction. —David Gauvey Herbert, IndieWire, 3 June 2025

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

First Known Use

1588, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

mediocrity

noun

me·​di·​oc·​ri·​ty ˌmēd-ē-ˈäk-rət-ē 

plural mediocrities

1

: the quality or state of being mediocre

2

: a mediocre person