midst

¹ American  

[midst] / mɪdst /

noun

1. 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.

   Synonyms:

   heart, core, thick

   Antonyms:

   periphery, edge

2. the middle point, part, or stage.

   We arrived in the midst of a storm.

   Synonyms:

   heart, core, thick

   Antonyms:

   periphery, edge

---

idioms

1. in our / your / their midst, in the midst of or among us (you, them).

   To think there was a spy in our midst!

midst ² American  

[midst] / mɪdst /

preposition

1. amidst.

---

midst ¹ British  

/ mɪdst /

noun

1. surrounded or enveloped by; at a point during, esp a climactic one

2. among us

3. archaic the centre

---

midst ² British  

/ mɪdst /

preposition

1. poetic See amid

---

Related Words

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; amidst

Example Sentences

Russia is in the midst of a demographic crisis, with fertility rates at 1.4 children per woman, far below the 2.1 threshold that demographers say is needed to keep the population at its current level.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

Could a patient sue a doctor who counsels against the measles vaccine in the midst of an outbreak?

From Slate • Mar. 31, 2026

She broke the news to fans in an Instagram live in the midst of what she describes as a "full-on breakdown".

From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026

Last year, in the midst of raids by U.S.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

Most alarmingly, these statistics indicate that we are currently in the midst of a sixth mass extinction—a mass dying-off of species.

From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh