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.
Right now, they’re in the midst of thinking about crafting a legislative agenda, knowing affordability, including housing costs, will be a core issue in the midterm elections, she said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
It was what happened in the midst of that loss, as well as the reactions after, that only made matters much worse for USC.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
One thing you emphasize in the book is the need to make sure that we are not stunting children’s emotional growth, especially in the midst of this effort to push more A.I. into schools.
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026
In the midst of all of that, McBurnie powered a header on goal, but Oblak was equal to it.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
I knew almost nothing about them despite having spent several days and nights in their midst.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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.
