noun
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the state or quality of being mediocre
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a mediocre person or thing
Etymology
Origin of mediocrity
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English mediocrite, from Middle French mediocrite, from Latin mediocritāt-, stem of mediocritās “middle state, moderation”; equivalent to mediocre + -ity
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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.
What really rankles Hedda, though, is that Lovborg and Thea have created something sublime while she has sought refuge with a scholastic mediocrity.
From Los Angeles Times
He is a mediocrity while the jejune young man running riot in the palace is a miraculous, world-changing prodigy.
From Los Angeles Times
But by the time Curt Cignetti arrived, the Crimson Hawks had slipped into mediocrity.
The ceiling is too low to differentiate between excellence and mediocrity.
Through a feedback loop involving both the preferences of algorithms and our own spending biases, we are pulled toward a sea of mediocrity and might miss some real gems that cost more.
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.