mediocre
Definitions
Of only average or moderate quality; not very good.
平庸的，普通的，不怎么样的。
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedmedi (middle) + Latin ocris ('a rugged hill') = 'halfway up the mountain.' The original image is a climber who only reaches the middle of the peak, never the summit. 'Stuck in the middle' became the picture for 'merely average' — and the word has since soured into a mild insult: not bad, but disappointingly unremarkable.
Root medi still carries 48 more wordsWhy It Means This
The hidden picture is the surprise here: the 'middle' in mediocre isn't a neutral midpoint but a half-climbed hill (medius + ocris). That sense of 'stopping halfway' is why the word feels like a let-down rather than a neutral 'average' — a mediocre meal isn't just middling, it's a quiet disappointment. The noun mediocrity carries the same edge.
Example Sentences
- 1.
The food was decent, but the service was mediocre.
- 2.
He was tired of producing mediocre work and wanted to excel.
Synonym Comparison
- mediocre — average but with a tinge of disappointment; you expected better
- average — neutral, just the statistical middle, no judgment
- ordinary — common, nothing special, but not a criticism
- second-rate — clearly inferior, stronger put-down
- passable — just barely good enough to accept