mediocre
UK/ˌmiːdɪˈəʊkə//ˌmidiˈoʊkəɹ/
mediocre adjective: not excellent or outstanding, usually disappointingly so.
Adjective
mediocre (comparative more mediocre, superlative most mediocre)
- Not excellent or outstanding, usually disappointingly so.
- I'm pretty good at tennis but only mediocre at racquetball.
- The standard ranges from runs that are almost sensational in the speed and brilliance of the work to the ultra-mediocre.1959 June, O. S. Nock, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 409
- Synonyms:
- common, commonplace, ordinary, average, comme ci comme ça, crappy, moderate, decent, indifferent, lackluster
- Antonyms:
- great, distinguished, exceptional, outstanding, remarkable, peculiar, ace, admirable, amazing, awe-inspiring
Noun
mediocre (plural mediocres)
- A person of minor significance, accomplishment or acclaim; a common and undistinguished person.
- Of the hundreds of inferior poets, who are continually offering their sonnets and addresses to the Moon, (or to the public instead of that luminary,) Wade, Barton, Wiffen, and Bailey, are the most conspicuous. Wade is a new aspirant, but gives strong prognostications of genius. Barton and Bailey...1825, “Present State of Literature”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, volume XCV, second part, page 197
- After this lecture, how do the mediocres feel? They probably feel indifferent or mad. Perhaps they were not even paying attention. The question is, are they more likely to be in the hallway tomorrow? Probably not.2014, Todd Whitaker, Dealing with Difficult Teachers, Third Edition, page 84
- Antonyms:
- great
- A member of a socioeconomic class between the upper ranks of society and the agricultural workers.
mediocre meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
mediocre in Hindi
- having no peculiar or outstanding features
- मध्यम madhyam, दरमियानी darmiyānī, बीच का bīc kā, बीच की रास bīc kī rās, मुतवस्सित mutvassit, बैन-बैन bain-bain
mediocre in Tamil
- இடைப்பட்ட தரமான, உயர்வற்ற, நடுத்தரமான, சாதாரணமான
mediocre in Urdu
- mediocre
- سادھارن sādhāran
mediocre in Bengali
- মাঝারি ধরনের, সাধারণ মানের, নিম্নমানের
More languagesFewer languages
- mediocre in Malayalam
- ഇടത്തരമായ, മധ്യമമായ, സാധാരണ നിലവാരത്തിലുളള
- mediocre in Kannada
- ಸುಮಾರು sumāru
- mediocre in Tagalog
- madampat
- mediocre in Arabic
- مُتَوَسِّط mutawassiṭ
- mediocre in Persian
- کممایه kam-mâye
Examples of mediocre in a sentence
- This entire evening has been nothing but a pageant of insipid nonsense.” “[laughing] Yes.” “Worshipping at the altar of your own mediocre frivolity.2023 August 24, Sarah Naftalis & Lauren Wells, “The Roast” (8:36 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 5, episode 8, spoken...
- Barton and Bailey are above the mediocres, and Wiffen tolerable.1825, “Present State of Literature”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, volume XCV, second part, page 197:
Synonyms of mediocre
16 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of mediocre
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more mediocre |
| superlative | most mediocre |
| alternative form (obsolete) | mediocer |
| alternative form (dated) | médiocre |
| Noun | |
| plural | mediocres |
Origin of mediocre
From the late Middle English medioker, from the French médiocre, from the Middle French médiocre, from the Classical Latin mediocris (“in a middle state”, “of middle size”, “middling”, “moderate”, “ordinary”, from medius (“middle”) + ocris (“rugged mountain”)); compare mediocrely and mediocrity.
Words formed from mediocre
Questions about mediocre
- What does mediocre mean?
- Mediocre means not excellent or outstanding, usually disappointingly so.
- What is mediocre in Hindi?
- Mediocre in Hindi is मध्यम (madhyam), दरमियानी (darmiyānī), बीच का (bīc kā). See Mediocre meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use mediocre in a sentence?
- This entire evening has been nothing but a pageant of insipid nonsense.” “[laughing] Yes.” “Worshipping at the altar of your own mediocre frivolity.
- What part of speech is mediocre?
- Mediocre can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce mediocre?
- Mediocre is pronounced /ˌmiːdɪˈəʊkə/ (UK).
Words near mediocre in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: mediocre (page history and authors); mediocre (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); سادھارن (Urdu) (page history and authors); mediocre (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); mediocre (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ಸುಮಾರು (Kannada) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-mediocre.ogg.
Cite this entry: “mediocre.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mediocre. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.