mediocrity

noun

Definition of mediocritynext
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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mediocrity The fact of the matter is, even without Judge, the Yankees are the best team in the American League, although that might not be saying a lot this year because the American League is rife with mediocrity. — Bill Madden, New York Daily News, 20 June 2026 Fortunately for you, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who famously griped about the mediocrity of the 348, has launched the radical new F355. — Basem Wasef, Robb Report, 17 June 2026 Yes, the Giants have jumped off the treadmill of mediocrity and subsequently sprained both ankles. — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 16 June 2026 Decades of mostly mediocrity and worse followed. — Sean Woods, Rolling Stone, 15 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for mediocrity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mediocrity
  1. normality
  2. nothing
  3. averageness
  4. obscurity
  5. acceptability
  6. inferior
  7. badness
  8. insect
Noun
  • Sometimes there’s no need to look any further than normality.
    — TIME, Time, 26 June 2026
  • Oil prices fell to their lowest level since the US-Israel war with Iran, as growing signs of a tentative return to normality through the Strait of Hormuz soothed markets.
    — Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 25 June 2026
Definition of normality
Noun
  • While CinemaCon 2026 brought us exciting news about new films, it was also bogged down with status quo nothings about how Amazon MGM still hasn’t found a new James Bond.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 17 Apr. 2026
  • 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
Definition of nothing
Noun
  • But that is just one expression of its structural bias toward familiarity and averageness.
    — Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 15 June 2026
  • Joe, who was selected because of his averageness, turns out to be the smartest person on Earth in the future and lands a job working for President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho (Terry Crews).
    — David Faris, TheWeek, 22 Apr. 2026
Definition of averageness
Noun
  • The short version is that after defeating the Kilrathi at the climax of Wing Commander 3, Mark Hamill’s Christopher Blair retires to a backwater world to live out a life in peace and obscurity.
    — Lee Hutchinson, ArsTechnica, 3 July 2026
  • He had been dressed as a woman among the king’s daughters in order to avoid participating in the Trojan War and ultimately his fate to die a young heroic death, as opposed to a long life of obscurity.
    — Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of obscurity
Noun
  • The rate has been gradually dropping for decades, due to cigarette taxes, tobacco product price hikes, smoking bans, public education campaigns and changes in the social acceptability of lighting up in public.
    — Mike Stobbe, Fortune, 29 May 2026
  • People who feel othered often describe exhaustion from performing acceptability.
    — Jennifer Jay Palumbo, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
Definition of acceptability
Noun
  • That comes to the Philippines in the form of war, as well as through the invocation, or establishment, of American-style modes of government and education that place Filipinos along this racial hierarchy, identifying them as these inferiors that need to be taught how to govern themselves.
    — Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Mar. 2026
Definition of inferior
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
  • 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
Definition of badness
Noun
  • My own team’s research has shown that mycorrhizal fungi can alter chemicals released by plants in ways that are useful for repelling insects while attracting pollinators and insects’ natural enemies.
    — Esther Ndumi Ngumbi, The Conversation, 8 July 2026
  • While it's best known for triggering playful behavior in cats, researchers have long known the compound also repels insects.
    — Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 8 July 2026
Definition of insect

Browse Nearby Words

mediocrities
mediocrity
meditate
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Cite this Entry

“Mediocrity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mediocrity. Accessed 13 Jul. 2026.

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