midst
1 Americannoun
-
the position of anything surrounded by other things or parts, or occurring in the middle of a period of time, course of action, etc..
a familiar face in the midst of the crowd;
in the midst of the performance.
-
the middle point, part, or stage.
We arrived in the midst of a storm.
idioms
preposition
noun
-
surrounded or enveloped by; at a point during, esp a climactic one
-
among us
-
archaic the centre
preposition
Synonym Usage
See middle.
Etymology
Origin of midst
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, equivalent to middes (aphetic variant of amiddes “in the middle”) + excrescent -t; see also amidst
Explanation
Midst describes something that's among, in the middle of, or surrounded by. After the school talent show, your principal said he didn't know there were so many gifted singers in our midst. Midst sounds a lot like mist, the fog that rolls in and can fill a place. Midst carries this same sense of being surrounded or placed in the middle of. It can be physical, like being in the midst of great athletes at the hockey game, or in regard to time, like the team captain breaking his foot in the midst of playoffs.
Vocabulary lists containing midst
Lesson 12
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Unit 3, Week 2
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Bye Forever, I Guess
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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.
But then John Barnett, a whistleblower whom Kennedy interviewed for “Downfall,” died by suicide in the midst of depositions for a case against Boeing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
The company, which went public five years ago, is in the midst of a turnaround.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
That could be taken out of his hands if the German coach is handed a lengthy ban, and it could happen in the midst of the Championship season.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Whipped up and given a sheen of analytic legitimacy by the Maven, military officials did not do their due diligence in the midst of hundreds of similar, simultaneous strikes.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
The suspended creatures turn their heads in the direction of the ghost in their midst.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
