mediocre

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˌmidiˈoʊkəɹ/ UK /ˌmiːdɪˈəʊkə/ See IPA manual

Freq #14479

Meanings

1

adj
Not very good; only average and a little disappointing.

I'm good at tennis but only mediocre at squash.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · not very good; only average... average middlingsecond-rate

Opposites

a-gradeawesome bad excellent goodgrade-asatisfactory wonderful

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

rather mediocre
fairly ordinary and disappointing in quality

Adverb + adjective

Simplified etymology

Mediocre comes from Latin mediocris, meaning “of middle height or degree” but literally “somewhat rugged or mountainous.” Mediocris is formed from medius, “middle,” and ocris, “rugged mountain.”

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.

medioker Middle English médiocre French mediocris Latin *h₂eḱ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# mediocre

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˌmidiˈoʊkəɹ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌmiːdɪˈəʊkə/
**Frequency rank:** 14479

## Meanings
1. Not very good; only average and a little disappointing.

## Examples
- I'm good at tennis but only mediocre at squash.

## Antonyms
- a-grade
- awesome
- bad
- excellent
- good
- grade-a
- satisfactory
- wonderful

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: medioker
- Root: médiocre
- Root: mediocris
- Root: *h₂eḱ-

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Mediocre comes 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. In present-day English it covers not very good; only average and a little disappointing. The historical chain runs through medioker (Middle English), médiocre (French), médiocre (Middle French), mediocris (Latin), and *h₂eḱ- (Proto-Indo-European).

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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