golden mean
Americannoun
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the perfect moderate course or position that avoids extremes; the happy medium.
noun
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the middle course between extremes
-
another term for golden section
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.
‘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
And yet, she still recommends Aristotle's "golden mean," which she summarizes as "the right emotion or the right action for the right context in the right amount."
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2022
She claims that teams must strike an optimal balance between diversity and homogeneity and that teams that fall too far on either side of the golden mean win fewer games.
From Slate ● May 2, 2017
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
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
