a most intelligent middle-aged mediocrity—Oscar Wilde
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The Enduring Moderation of Mediocre
One of the things that is remarkable about mediocre is the extent to which it has retained its meaning over the course of more than four centuries of continual use. The word, when used as an adjective, has changed very little, if at all, in its meaning since it was used in a 1586 book titled The English Secretorie (our earliest known evidence): “Mediocre, a meane betwixt high and low, vehement and slender, too much and too little as we saye. . . .”
The word comes to English via Middle French from the Latin word mediocris, meaning "of medium size, moderate, middling, commonplace," and perhaps originally "halfway to the top." The noun form of mediocre is mediocrity.
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People interested in words always point out that mediocrity doesn't mean quite what its main root would indicate: Why doesn't it describe something that's right in the middle of the pack, exactly what you would expect? Instead the words mediocrity and mediocre always suggest disappointment. A mediocre play is one you wish you hadn't wasted an evening on, and the mediocre actor in it should probably find another profession. A person can even be called a mediocrity, though it isn't very nice and you'd never do it to his face.
Examples of mediocrity in a Sentence
We were disappointed by the mediocrity of the wine.
He thought that he was a brilliant artist himself and that all his fellow painters were just mediocrities.
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Before his rise, the Bucks were stuck in an endless loop of mediocrity—too good to tank, too bad to contend.—Brian Sampson, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025 In his Tuesday morning introductory news conference in a packed Welcome Center room on campus, Bibby vowed to immediately turn the fortunes of a program that has been mired in mediocrity, misery or worse since its elevation to Division I in 1991.—Joe Davidson, Sacbee.com, 1 Apr. 2025 There was a time when Marvel was really crushing DC, but for the last few years it’s been pretty bleak on all sides, with only a smattering of decent comic book movies punctuating a the parade of mediocrity.—Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 16 May 2025 The rich keep winning, while the poor remain trapped in mediocrity.—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 14 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for mediocrity
Word History
Etymology
Middle English mediokerte, mediocrite "moderation, medium size or amount," borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French mediocrité "intermediate state," borrowed from Latin mediocritāt-, mediocritās "moderateness of size or amount, intermediate character, limited ability," from mediocris "of medium size, moderate, mediocre" + -itāt-, -itās-ity
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