mediocrity

noun

Definition of mediocritynext
1
as in normality
the quality or state of being mediocre She's a perfectionist who refuses to settle for mediocrity.

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2
as in nothing
a person of little fame He surrounded himself with mediocrities to appear more notable by comparison.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mediocrity That’s partly because the Miami Dolphins have been wading in mediocrity for so long and are now in a major rebuild and facing a season of cellar-low expectations. — Miami Herald, 16 Aug. 2026 If managers cannot remove poor performers, mediocrity becomes institutionalized. — Bethany Mandel, The Washington Examiner, 16 Aug. 2026 But there’s something about the failures of The Last House that feel like an encapsulation of the state of American film in all its rudderless mediocrity in which humanity is scarcely explored and artistry is rarely found. — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 7 Aug. 2026 Fauci, 85, truly one of humanity’s great public health heroes, will be lionized in history long after mediocrities like Paul, Uthmeier and Scott have been relegated to footnotes. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 6 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for mediocrity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mediocrity
  1. normality
  2. nothing
  3. averageness
  4. obscurity
  5. acceptability
  6. inferior
  7. badness
  8. insect
Noun
  • The crimson hue that may have been visible at the height of the eclipse will gradually fade as the crescent of the lunar disk exposed to direct sunlight grows, and normality reasserts itself over the natural satellite.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 24 Aug. 2026
  • By the time the world returned to relative normality, her priorities had shifted.
    — Faith Hill, The Atlantic, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of normality
Noun
  • While CinemaCon 2026 brought us exciting news about new films, it was also bogged down with status quo nothings about how Amazon MGM still hasn’t found a new James Bond.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 17 Apr. 2026
  • When Dana, who, like Virginia, had been successful in writing pleasant but undistinguished nothings—in her case, songs for Billy Rose’s revues—decided to try taking on more serious music by studying with Boulanger, Virginia entered a deep downward spiral.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Jan. 2026
Definition of nothing
Noun
  • But that is just one expression of its structural bias toward familiarity and averageness.
    — Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 15 June 2026
  • Joe, who was selected because of his averageness, turns out to be the smartest person on Earth in the future and lands a job working for President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho (Terry Crews).
    — David Faris, TheWeek, 22 Apr. 2026
Definition of averageness
Noun
  • From obscurity to the top of the football world, all in the matter of a few days.
    — Sam McDowell August 29, Kansas City Star, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Her hypnotic, unconventional works propelled her from near-obscurity to a place in the world’s most prominent museums.
    — Juno Carmel, Washington Post, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of obscurity
Noun
  • Today, everyone from the Economist to the New York Times has heralded the coming psychedelics renaissance, as hallucinogens begin to gain greater cultural, medical and commercial acceptability.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 29 July 2026
  • The rate has been gradually dropping for decades, due to cigarette taxes, tobacco product price hikes, smoking bans, public education campaigns and changes in the social acceptability of lighting up in public.
    — Mike Stobbe, Fortune, 29 May 2026
Definition of acceptability
Noun
  • That comes to the Philippines in the form of war, as well as through the invocation, or establishment, of American-style modes of government and education that place Filipinos along this racial hierarchy, identifying them as these inferiors that need to be taught how to govern themselves.
    — Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Mar. 2026
Definition of inferior
Noun
  • On one side, a satanic figure named Randall Flagg who gathers his forces of badness to Las Vegas; on the other, the good guys, led by 108-year-old Mother Abigail in, of all places, Boulder.
    — Barbara Ellis, Denver Post, 15 Jan. 2026
  • The show premiered over Thanksgiving weekend, when people were tired and full and bored (and probably also horny), and countered our world’s unceasing badness with its world’s buoyant sweetness.
    — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 12 Jan. 2026
Definition of badness
Noun
  • Over the past decade, its forest carbon sink weakened by about 27 percent as harvesting, ageing stands, drought, heat, wildfire and insect outbreaks reduced forest resilience.
    — Kari Stoever, Footwear News, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Move the camera in close enough to fill the frame with an insect's eye, and the lens barrel starts physically blocking ambient light from reaching the scene.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of insect

Browse Nearby Words

mediocrities
mediocrity
meditate
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Cite this Entry

“Mediocrity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mediocrity. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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