middling

American  

[mid-ling] / ˈmɪd lɪŋ /

adjective

1. medium, moderate, or average in size, quantity, or quality.

   The returns on such a large investment may be only middling.

2. mediocre; ordinary; commonplace; pedestrian.

   The restaurant's entrées are no better than middling.

3. Older Use. in fairly good health.

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adverb

1. moderately; fairly.

noun

1. middlings, any of various products or commodities of intermediate quality, grade, size, etc., as the coarser particles of ground wheat mingled with bran.

2. Also called middling meat.  Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. Often middlings salt pork or smoked side meat.

middling British  

/ ˈmɪdlɪŋ /

adjective

1. mediocre in quality, size, etc; neither good nor bad, esp in health (often in the phrase fair to middling )

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adverb

1. informal moderately

   middling well

middling Idioms  

1. see fair to middling.

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Other Word Forms

• middlingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of middling

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English (north) medlinge (present participle) “coming between, middle”; mid ¹, -ling ²

Example Sentences

But then, what does such recognition mean in an industry where original storytelling and concepts are diminished or obscured by mountains of middling?

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026

Despite a middling September — the Padres went 14-11 in the final month of the season — the club finished only three games back of the Dodgers.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026

January 2026 has seen a somewhat middling window.

From BBC • Feb. 1, 2026

Employers hired at a middling pace in December, closing out a year that saw the U.S. labor market cool into a “low hire, low fire” stasis.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

They were men of middling birth, by and large; merchants' sons, lesser lordlings, sometimes even foreigners, but judging from their results, far more able than their highborn predecessors.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

Related Words

• mediocre
• passable
• run-of-the-mill
• so-so