1
as in normality
the quality or state of being mediocre
She's a perfectionist who refuses to settle for mediocrity.
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2
as in nothing
a person of little fame
He surrounded himself with mediocrities to appear more notable by comparison.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mediocrity
The regime has been hollowed out by decades of negative selection—the result of rewarding mediocrity and prizing ideological loyalty over competence.
—
Karim Sadjadpour, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2026
Credited with adding inventive wrinkles to the 49ers’ run game, the first-time head coach was billed as the creative mind who, along with Tagovailoa, was supposed to lift the Dolphins out of years of mediocrity.
—Alanis Thames, Denver Post, 8 Jan. 2026
Credited with adding inventive wrinkles to the 49ers running game, the first-time head coach was billed as the creative mind who, along with Tagovailoa, was supposed to lift the Dolphins out of years of mediocrity.
—Alanis Thames, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2026
Or in the case of UMass, below mediocrity.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 7 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for mediocrity
Karim Sadjadpour, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2026
Credited with adding inventive wrinkles to the 49ers’ run game, the first-time head coach was billed as the creative mind who, along with Tagovailoa, was supposed to lift the Dolphins out of years of mediocrity.
—Alanis Thames, Denver Post, 8 Jan. 2026
Credited with adding inventive wrinkles to the 49ers running game, the first-time head coach was billed as the creative mind who, along with Tagovailoa, was supposed to lift the Dolphins out of years of mediocrity.
—Alanis Thames, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2026
Or in the case of UMass, below mediocrity.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 7 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for mediocrity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mediocrity
Noun
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The wrinkle in this case is that many remember 2016 both as a hellish tragedy and the last gasp of anything like normality.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
18 Jan. 2026
-
There have been no signs of protests for days in Tehran, where shopping and street life have returned to outward normality, though a week-old internet blackout continued.—
Jon Gambrell,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Jan. 2026
Noun
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When Dana, who, like Virginia, had been successful in writing pleasant but undistinguished nothings—in her case, songs for Billy Rose’s revues—decided to try taking on more serious music by studying with Boulanger, Virginia entered a deep downward spiral.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Why did her mom press so hard for the littlest of nothings?—
Danielle Parker,
CBS News,
4 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
What started as a restaurant built from equal parts passion and business savvy with a mission to resurrect Italian American food from culinary obscurity is now a global phenomenon.—
Sam Stone,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
-
The investigation, published in September, highlighted how 7-OH rose from obscurity to overtake the quasi-legal drug trade in American gas stations, grocery stores and smoke shops, triggering a wave of lawsuits and drawing federal scrutiny over its health risks.—
Matthew Kelly,
Kansas City Star,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The second difference is acceptability.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Local private players are learning that being US-aligned is becoming its own form of credibility, an argument for political acceptability and, potentially, financing access.—
Ruben Nyanguila,
semafor.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The Last of the Bugs is definitely a big part of the album themes and insects and bugs and change.—
Rachel DeSantis,
PEOPLE,
29 Jan. 2026
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People handling or consuming the products could become seriously ill due to adulteration from pests, including rodents, birds and insects, the company said.—
Cheryl V. Jackson,
IndyStar,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
On one side, a satanic figure named Randall Flagg who gathers his forces of badness to Las Vegas; on the other, the good guys, led by 108-year-old Mother Abigail in, of all places, Boulder.—
Barbara Ellis,
Denver Post,
15 Jan. 2026
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The show premiered over Thanksgiving weekend, when people were tired and full and bored (and probably also horny), and countered our world’s unceasing badness with its world’s buoyant sweetness.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Ackie mostly barks orders at her minions to go get him, while Nighy in his home plays the bad guy demanding blood.—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
28 Jan. 2026
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His latest lesson was giving the finger to a worker at a Michigan auto plant who yelled at him for his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein controversy, thereby giving license to his minions to do the same in any conflict or disagreement.—
Bob Kustra,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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This is a childhood that had all its ordinariness burned out of it by the linking of even seemingly trivial gestures (an offering of candy, a bath, a swim, the dust in a corner of a room) to an entire array of physical and mental agonies.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
13 Jan. 2026
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The ordinariness of their relationship made the moment feel even more special.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
19 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mediocrity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mediocrity. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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