mediocrity
English
Etymology
From Middle French médiocrité, from Latin mediocritās, from mediocris.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /miːdɪˈɒkɹɪti/
Audio (UK) (file)
Noun
mediocrity (countable and uncountable, plural mediocrities)
- (now rare) The quality of being intermediate between two extremes; a mean.
- (obsolete) A middle course of action; moderation, balance.
- 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 54573970:, New York Review Books 2001, p.273:
- In adversity I wish for prosperity, and in prosperity I am afraid of adversity. What mediocrity may be found?
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- (uncountable) The condition of being mediocre; having only an average degree of quality, skills etc.; no better than standard.
- 2021 March 28, Phil McNulty, “Albania 0-2 England”, in BBC Sport:
- England captain Harry Kane lifted the mediocrity of an attritional first half on a slow surface when he scored his 33rd goal for his country, a superbly guided diving header from Luke Shaw's cross seven minutes before the interval.
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- An individual with mediocre abilities or achievements.
Related terms
- mean
- median
- mediate
- mediation
- mediator
- mediocre
- medium
Translations
condition of being mediocre
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Anagrams
- iridectomy