mediocrity

plural mediocrities

1. uncountableThe condition of being mediocre; having only an average degree of quality, skills etc.; no better than standard.

   Flexibility is good, but a tolerance for mediocrity carried far enough impairs operational capacity.

   1 more example

   England captain Harry Kane lifted the mediocrity of an attritional first half on a slow surface when he scored his 33rd goal for his country, a superbly guided diving header from Luke Shaw's cross seven minutes before the interval.

   2021 March 28, Phil McNulty, “Albania 0-2 England”, in BBC Sport

   Synonyms: middlingness

2. countableA person with mediocre abilities or achievements.

   surrounded by mediocrities

   2 more examples

   populated with mediocrities

   Faith is not a sign of weakness or ignorance; on the contrary, those who have no faith or do not feel the need for it are mediocrities.

   1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 123

3. archaiccountableuncountableThe quality of being intermediate between two extremes; a mean.
4. countableobsoleteuncountableA middle course of action; moderation, balance.

   In adversity I wish for prosperity, and in prosperity I am afraid of adversity. What mediocrity may be found?

   1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC

   1 more example

   Sundrie other Gent[lemen] reſt beholden to this hundred, for their dvvellings, vvho, in an enuiable mediocritie of fortune, do happilie poſſeſſe themſelues, and communicate their ſufficient means to the ſeruice of their prince, the good of their neighbours, and the bettering of their ovvn eſtate: […]

   1609, Richard Carew, “The Second Booke”, in The Survey of Cornwall, London: […] S[imon] S[tafford] for Iohn Iaggard, […], →OCLC, folio 117, verso