mediocrity

[mee-dee-ok-ri-tee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mediocrity ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural me·di·oc·ri·ties.

the state or quality of being mediocre.

mediocre ability or accomplishment.

Origin of mediocrity

1400–50; late Middle English mediocrite < Middle French mediocrite < Latin mediocritāt- (stem of mediocritās) a middle state, moderation. See mediocre, -ity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for mediocrity

normality, commonness, averageness, upstart, cipher, nonentity, commoner

Examples from the Web for mediocrity

Contemporary Examples of mediocrity

If the point was to create a paean to mediocrity, then Linklater has made maybe the definitive work on the subject.
Black 'Boyhood' Is Always Black First, Boy Later
Teo Bugbee
August 30, 2014
Does the mediocrity of the job market mean that America no longer needs people who deal with abstractions?
Richard Hofstadter and America’s New Wave of Anti-Intellectualism
David Masciotra
March 9, 2014
Both the Giants and the Jets descended into mediocrity, a situation epitomized by the “Miracle In The Meadowlands” in 1978.
New York City Is the Storied Football Capital of the USA
Ben Jacobs
January 26, 2014
While the Giants receded into two decades of mediocrity, the Jets took over New York.
New York City Is the Storied Football Capital of the USA
Ben Jacobs
January 26, 2014
He wrote poems as a high school student on the side, but was never too serious, for fear of failure or mediocrity.
Why Billy Collins Is America’s Most Popular Poet
Austen Rosenfeld
October 22, 2013

Historical Examples of mediocrity

It was a different thing to advertise one's mediocrity to the world.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
The kind of renown most accessible and acceptable to mediocrity.
The Devil's Dictionary
Ambrose Bierce
I see only mediocrity in her, and you will find a hundred women who will be more worthy of you.
The Middle Class Gentleman
Moliere
I may be the son of a genius, but I am nevertheless a mediocrity.
Melomaniacs
James Huneker
He is the embodiment of routine and conservatism, because he is the embodiment of mediocrity.
The Curse of Education
Harold E. Gorst

British Dictionary definitions for mediocrity

mediocrity

noun plural -ties

the state or quality of being mediocre

a mediocre person or thing

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

Word Origin and History for mediocrity

early 15c., "moderation; intermediate state or amount," from Middle French médiocrité and directly from Latin mediocritatem (nominative mediocritas) "a middle state, middling condition, medium," from mediocris (see mediocre). Neutral at first; disparaging sense began to predominate from late 16c. The meaning "person of mediocre abilities or attainments" is from 1690s. Before the tinge of disparagement crept in, another name for the Golden Mean was golden mediocrity.