middling

adjective mid·dling \ ˈmid-liŋ , -lən \

Definition of middling

1 :of middle, medium, or moderate size, degree, or quality

2 :mediocre, second-rate

3 :of, relating to, or being a middle class

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middling

adverb

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middlingly

play \-lē\ adverb

See middling defined for English-language learners

See middling defined for kids

Examples of middling in a Sentence

tired of the city but not particularly interested in small-town life, he moved to a suburb of middling size
was disappointed in the renowned historian's latest book, which is only middling

Recent Examples of middling from the Web

Longtime SNL viewers know that most episodes are like an album by a middling rock band — not the Beatles, more like Foo Fighters.

— kyle smith, National Review, "Al Franken, Un-Funny Man of the Senate," 7 Aug. 2017
Meanwhile, Miranda gave the Mariners a middling performance.

— ryan divish, The Seattle Times, "Mariners lose series finale at Texas, face big duel with Kansas City," 2 Aug. 2017
Muschamp's second stint as Auburn's defensive coordinator lasted just one season, and while the Tigers were a middling defensive team in 2015, the foundation was laid for last season's success.

— tom green, AL.com, "Kevin Steele credits Will Muschamp for 'setting the table' for Auburn's defensive success," 2 Aug. 2017
The show received a middling 62 out of 100 score on Metacritic, a website that aggregates television reviews.

— the washington post, NOLA.com, "Why was Kermit the Frog really fired? The Henson family speaks out.," 19 July 2017
Given the middling state of both the Lions’ offense and defense, there’s plenty of value in being able to control field position.

— dave birkett, Detroit Free Press, "Best Detroit Lions players: No. 15 Sam Martin among NFL's top punters," 6 July 2017
The second episode of ABC's Boy Band took a steep slip from its already middling premiere, coming in with just a 0.5 rating among adults 18-49.

— michael o'connell, The Hollywood Reporter, "TV Ratings: 'Boy Band' and 'Zoo' Sink, 'Battle' Reboot OK in Premiere," 30 June 2017
Another pick that did the job: The soap-and-water solution delivered only middling results.

— the good housekeeping institute, Good Housekeeping, "The Best Patio Furniture Cleaners," 28 June 2017
But the team with the worst record in baseball has been kicked around enough, so two road wins against a middling team generated enough energy to carry the charter flight back east.

— matt gelb, Philly.com, "Phillies come back, win first road series since April," 28 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'middling.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of middling

15th century

middling Synonyms

Synonyms

average, intermediate, mean, median, medium, middle, midsize (also midsized), moderate, modest

Related Words

reasonable; common, commonplace, conventional, normal, popular, regular, routine, standard, typical, usual; adequate, passable, tolerable

Near Antonyms

excessive, extreme; exceptional, rare, strange, uncommon, unusual; distinctive, idiosyncratic, special, unique; individual, peculiar, private

middling

noun

Definition of middling

1 :any of various commodities of intermediate size, quality, or position

2 middlings plural in form but singular or plural in construction :a granular product of grain milling; especially :a wheat milling by-product used in animal feeds