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The Enduring Moderation of Mediocre
One of the things that is remarkable about mediocre is the extent to which it has retained its meaning over the course of more than four centuries of continual use. The word, when used as an adjective, has changed very little, if at all, in its meaning since it was used in a 1586 book titled The English Secretorie (our earliest known evidence): “Mediocre, a meane betwixt high and low, vehement and slender, too much and too little as we saye. . . .” The word comes to English via Middle French from the Latin word mediocris, meaning "of medium size, moderate, middling, commonplace," and perhaps originally "halfway to the top." The noun form of mediocre is mediocrity.
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People interested in words always point out that mediocrity doesn't mean quite what its main root would indicate: Why doesn't it describe something that's right in the middle of the pack, exactly what you would expect? Instead the words mediocrity and mediocre always suggest disappointment. A mediocre play is one you wish you hadn't wasted an evening on, and the mediocre actor in it should probably find another profession. A person can even be called a mediocrity, though it isn't very nice and you'd never do it to his face.
Examples of mediocrity in a Sentence
Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2024
Inevitably, their fall from grace will permeate into an adulthood of mediocrity and low income.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 28 Mar. 2024
His trajectory is unprecedented in the Pac-12’s modern era: Coach of the Year honors in each of his first two seasons, then five years of abject mediocrity (or worse) and his walking papers.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2024
Daniel Colón-Ramos teaches at the medical school, where the sleazy quack, public-health mediocrity, leaky-lab patron, drug-company shill, and cover-up artist Dr. Fauci delivered a commencement address last year.
—Brian T. Allen, National Review, 8 Feb. 2024
To continue to support mediocrity in the most profitable sector of a major Los Angeles institution would be an insult.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2023
Put another way: Smith is vastly more qualified for the position than either of his predecessors, Johnny Dawkins and Haase, who combined for 15 seasons of abject mediocrity that rendered the program irrelevant and produced one NCAA Tournament bid (under Dawkins).
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 25 Mar. 2024
Haase has yet to lead the Cardinal into the NCAA Tournament, a stretch of mediocrity that began in the 2016-17 season and has several of the greatest players in school history calling for his job.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2024
Tomlin extended his edge to 20-15. Pittsburgh Steelers Though Tomlin officially avoided his first losing season in 17 campaigns courtesy of a Week 17 victory at Seattle, that doesn’t negate the fact the Steelers have been stuck in a bit of a mediocrity rut.
—USA TODAY, 7 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mediocrity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near mediocrity
Cite this Entry
“Mediocrity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mediocrity. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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mediocrity
noun
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