Synonyms

golden mean

American

noun

the perfect moderate course or position that avoids extremes; the happy medium.
golden section.

golden mean British

noun

the middle course between extremes
another term for golden section

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

golden mean Cultural

The desirable middle ground between any two extremes, according to the philosophy of Aristotle.

Etymology

Origin of golden mean

First recorded in 1580–90

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

golden mean

‘A golden mean exists between security and deprivation.’

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 11, 2025

In this way, the virtuous action will be the golden mean, neither too much nor too little.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022

The result was a fresh argument for a form of pest control — a golden mean of organic and industrial.

From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2017

Others hope to strike a golden mean between full ripeness and not so much.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2016

Mr. Dunwoody showed us how to find the golden mean using proportions and a ruler, but none of us really got it, not even Clive Pike.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023