mid·dle-of-the-road
ˈmi-dᵊl-əv-ṯẖə-ˈrōd 
: standing for or following a course of action midway between extremes
especially
: being neither liberal nor conservative in politics
: a course of action or a standpoint midway between extremes
Synonyms
Examples of middle-of-the-road in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Judy Berman, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
Now, both are trying to smooth their hard edges to win over the middle-of-the-road voters who will likely decide the victor in the Arizona Senate race -- and, possibly, control of the entire chamber.
—Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 2 Apr. 2024
Two seats are open this year on the state's middle-of-the-road Supreme Court, and state Republicans are targeting the state's 25-year-old ruling declaring the state constitution's right to privacy covers abortions.
—Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 21 Mar. 2024
At $45,000, the new vehicle is more comparable to middle-of-the-road EVs, including the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6, the Ford Mustang Mach-E, and the Tesla Model 3.
—Aarian Marshall, WIRED, 7 Mar. 2024
Because your average, middle-of-the-road restaurant is still full service, but that price point is not quite high enough to pay for everything.
—Julia Moskin, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2024
The station carried a variety of formats, including what used to be called middle-of-the-road music, news-talk and modern country music.
—Chris Foran, Journal Sentinel, 12 Feb. 2024
He was lightly recruited before landing at Iowa State, a middle-of-the-road program in the powerful Big 12 Conference.
—David K. Li, NBC News, 10 Feb. 2024
In one middle-of-the-road scenario, delayed action around emissions leads the planet to experience a warmer decade in the 2020s before peaking at 2 degrees Celsius of warming around the middle of the century.
—Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2024
Jordan Ruttert, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024
Video obtained by The Washington Post shows Ramy stepping out into the middle of the road with a lighted firework aimed skyward.
—Sufian Taha, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2024
That meant the driver was toward the middle of the road and the wagon to the right.
—Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, 2 Mar. 2024
Especially in retrospect, Audi’s freshman effort was an innocuous offering that seemed laser-targeted at precisely the middle of the road.
—Basem Wasef, Robb Report, 18 Jan. 2024
The Broncos have been a bottom-half passing offense this season and, at best, middle of the road by most other measures.
—Jeff Miller, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2023
Logs that were placed in the road in an apparent vigilante effort to stop more RVs from parking have simply been pushed into the middle of the road.
—Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times, 15 Nov. 2023
Most of these ballet flats are over $100, which is more middle of the road in terms of ballet flat prices.
—Jessie Quinn, Peoplemag, 28 July 2023
On March 30, someone came into the Hopkinton police station to report picking up a chainsaw that had fallen out of a white Toyota Tacoma pickup truck and was sitting in the middle of the road (police took the chainsaw and logged it as found property).
—Emily Sweeney, BostonGlobe.com, 21 July 2023
Adjective
Neither prudish nor, for the most part, smutty, the love scenes come straight out of middle-of-the-road romance novels.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
Now, both are trying to smooth their hard edges to win over the middle-of-the-road voters who will likely decide the victor in the Arizona Senate race -- and, possibly, control of the entire chamber.
—Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 2 Apr. 2024
Two seats are open this year on the state's middle-of-the-road Supreme Court, and state Republicans are targeting the state's 25-year-old ruling declaring the state constitution's right to privacy covers abortions.
—Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 21 Mar. 2024
At $45,000, the new vehicle is more comparable to middle-of-the-road EVs, including the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6, the Ford Mustang Mach-E, and the Tesla Model 3.
—Aarian Marshall, WIRED, 7 Mar. 2024
Because your average, middle-of-the-road restaurant is still full service, but that price point is not quite high enough to pay for everything.
—Julia Moskin, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2024
The station carried a variety of formats, including what used to be called middle-of-the-road music, news-talk and modern country music.
—Chris Foran, Journal Sentinel, 12 Feb. 2024
He was lightly recruited before landing at Iowa State, a middle-of-the-road program in the powerful Big 12 Conference.
—David K. Li, NBC News, 10 Feb. 2024
In one middle-of-the-road scenario, delayed action around emissions leads the planet to experience a warmer decade in the 2020s before peaking at 2 degrees Celsius of warming around the middle of the century.
—Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2024
Noun phrase
While his regular season offensive performance has been middle of the road, averaging 9.4 points per game, Butler was named the Mountain West conference defensive player of the year.
—Jordan Ruttert, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024
Video obtained by The Washington Post shows Ramy stepping out into the middle of the road with a lighted firework aimed skyward.
—Sufian Taha, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2024
That meant the driver was toward the middle of the road and the wagon to the right.
—Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, 2 Mar. 2024
Especially in retrospect, Audi’s freshman effort was an innocuous offering that seemed laser-targeted at precisely the middle of the road.
—Basem Wasef, Robb Report, 18 Jan. 2024
The Broncos have been a bottom-half passing offense this season and, at best, middle of the road by most other measures.
—Jeff Miller, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2023
Logs that were placed in the road in an apparent vigilante effort to stop more RVs from parking have simply been pushed into the middle of the road.
—Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times, 15 Nov. 2023
Most of these ballet flats are over $100, which is more middle of the road in terms of ballet flat prices.
—Jessie Quinn, Peoplemag, 28 July 2023
On March 30, someone came into the Hopkinton police station to report picking up a chainsaw that had fallen out of a white Toyota Tacoma pickup truck and was sitting in the middle of the road (police took the chainsaw and logged it as found property).
—Emily Sweeney, BostonGlobe.com, 21 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'middle-of-the-road.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Dictionary Entries Near middle-of-the-road
Cite this Entry
“Middle-of-the-road.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/middle-of-the-road. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
middle-of-the-road
adjective
mid·dle-of-the-road
ˌmid-ᵊl-əv-t͟hə-ˈrōd
: standing for or following a course of action midway between extremes
especially
: being neither liberal nor conservative in politics
middle-of-the-roader
noun
-ˈrōd-ər
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