middle distance

noun

1

: a part of a pictorial representation or scene between the foreground and the background

2

: any footrace distance usually from 800 to 1500 meters or from 880 yards to one mile

Examples of middle distance in a Sentence

As I looked out over the water, a small boat appeared in the middle distance.

Recent Examples on the Web

James is staring into the middle distance while Luka pounds the air out of the Spalding for twenty seconds per possession. —Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2026

Where Hansen-Løve cleaves closely to her characters, Schanelec takes a step back, filming in long and middle distance shots. —Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 17 Feb. 2026

Whitney is gazing into the middle distance, contemplating a runner on a Lithuanian passport, when Ferdinand blows the world of season four apart. —Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2026

Ugandan middle distance runner Docus Ajok dreamed of being an Olympic champion. —Amy Woodyatt, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1803, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for middle distance

• coexistence
• nonexistence
• assistance
• consistence
• desistance
• existence
• insistence
• persistence
• resistance
• subsistence
• magnetoresistance