mediocre

See also: médiocre and medíocre

English

Alternative forms

• mediocer (obsolete)
• médiocre (dated)

Etymology

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.

(deprecated template usage)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌmiːdɪˈəʊkə/, /ˈmiːdɪˌəʊkə/
• IPA^(key): /ˌmidiˈoʊkəɹ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

mediocre (comparative more mediocre, superlative most mediocre)

1. Having no peculiar or outstanding features; not extraordinary, special, exceptional, or great; of medium quality.

   I'm pretty good at tennis but only mediocre at racquetball.

   • 1968, William Arthur Ward, Thoughts of a Christian Optimist‎^[1], Droke House:

     The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.

   Synonyms: common, commonplace, ordinary

   Antonyms: great, distinguished, exceptional, outstanding, remarkable, peculiar, excellent

Related terms

• mean
• median
• mediate
• mediation
• mediator
• mediocrely
• mediocrity
• medium

 

Translations

having no peculiar or outstanding features

• Arabic: مُتَوَسِّط (mutawassiṭ)
• Belarusian: пасрэ́дны (pasrédny), сярэ́дні (sjarédni)
• Bulgarian: посре́дствен (bg) (posrédstven)
• Catalan: mediocre (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 平庸 (zh) (píngyōng), 平凡 (zh) (píngfán), 平平 (zh) (píngpíng), 庸碌 (zh) (yōnglù)

• Czech: průměrný (cs)
• Danish: middelmådig
• Dutch: middelmatig (nl)
• Finnish: keskiverto (fi), keskimääräinen (fi), (in a negative sense) keskinkertainen (fi), hääppöinen
• French: médiocre (fr)
• Galician: mediocre (gl) m or f
• German: mittelmäßig (de)
• Greek: μέτριος (el) m (métrios), (colloquial) παρακατιανός (el) m (parakatianós)
• Hungarian: középszerű (hu), közepes (hu)
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} miðlungs- , ^{(please verify)} meðallags-
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} Biasa Saja
• Italian: mediocre (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 凡庸な (ja) (bon'yō na), 平凡な (ja) (heibon na)
• Korean: 평범하다 (ko) (pyeongbeomhada)
• Latin: mediocris (la)
• Macedonian: сре́ден m (sréden), про́сечен m (prósečen)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: middelmådig

• Persian: کم‌مایه (kam-mâye)
• Polish: średni (pl), mierny (pl)
• Portuguese: medíocre (pt)
• Romanian: mediocru (ro)
• Russian: посре́дственный (ru) (posrédstvennyj), зауря́дный (ru) (zaurjádnyj), сре́дний (ru) (srédnij), нева́жный (ru) (nevážnyj)
• Slovak: priemerný, prostredný
• Spanish: mediocre (es)
• Swedish: medelmåttig (sv)
• Tagalog: madampat
• Turkish: vasat (tr), sıradan (tr)
• Ukrainian: посере́дній (poserédnij), аби́який (uk) (abýjakyj), сере́дній (serédnij)
• Westrobothnian:

Noun

mediocre (plural mediocres)

1. A person of minor significance, accomplishment or acclaim; a common and undistinguished person.
   • 2014, Todd Whitaker, Dealing with Difficult Teachers, Third Edition (page 84)

     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.

   Antonym: great

2. (historical) A member of a socioeconomic class between the upper ranks of society and the agricultural workers.

Translations

person of minor significance, accomplishment or acclaim

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 庸人 (zh) (yōngrén)

• French: médiocre (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Mittelmäßige
• Greek: μετριότητα (el) f (metriótita)
• Japanese: 庸人 (ja) (yōjin), 凡人 (ja) (bonjin)

Further reading

• “mediocre”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “mediocre”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• mediocer

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Catalan

Adjective

mediocre m or f (masculine and feminine plural mediocres)

1. mediocre

Derived terms

• mediocrement

Related terms

• mediocritat

Further reading

• “mediocre” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

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Italian

Adjective

1. mediocre, ordinary, middling

   Synonyms: comune, ordinario

2. second-rate, poor, shoddy

   Synonyms: scadente, scarso

Noun

mediocre m or f (plural mediocri)

1. mediocre person; mediocrity

Related terms

• medio
• mediocremente
• mediocrità

 

Anagrams

• decimerò

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /meˈdi.o.kre/, [mɛˈd̪iɔkrɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /meˈdi.o.kre/, [meˈd̪iːokre]

Adjective

(deprecated template usage) mediocre

1. nominative/accusative neuter singular of mediocris

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Portuguese

Adjective

1. Obsolete spelling of medíocre

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meˈdjokɾe/ [meˈð̞jo.kɾe]

Adjective

mediocre m or f (masculine and feminine plural mediocres)

1. mediocre

Related terms

• mediocridad

Further reading

• Template:R:DRAE 2001