middle-child syndrome

A form of middle child syndrome — The belief or idea that the middle child of a family, who is born in between siblings, is treated or seen differently by their parents from the rest of their siblings.

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Meanings

nounmiddle-child syndrome (uncountable)
  1. alternativeuncountableAlternative form of middle child syndrome.

    I have middle-child syndrome and generally bounce around rooms like a Labrador retriever trying to make sure everyone is okay.

    2016, Jessi Klein, “All the Cakes”, in You’ll Grow Out of It, London: Two Roads, →ISBN, page 41
    2 more examples

    I, too, was expecting my third child and was concerned about the “middle-child syndrome.” And all the things I had read and heard about happened as soon as I brought the baby home. Plus other symptoms developed as time went on. For three years, we had a typical middle child even though we tried to make him feel important.

    1975 January 15, Scrabble For Two [pseudonym], “[Confidential chat] New baby was charm”, in The Boston Globe, volume 207, number 15, Boston, Mass.: Globe Newspaper Co., →ISSN, page 34

    As the fifth of nine children, growing up in a comfortable Chicago suburb, he may just be suffering from the world’s worst case of middle-child syndrome.

    1993 March 8, Jerry Adler with Ray Sawhill, “As Groundhog Has His Day: Bill Murray, making it on a sneer and a shoeshine”, in Newsweek, →ISSN, page 53, column 2
Cite this entry
APA

middle-child syndrome. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/middle-child%20syndrome

MLA

“middle-child syndrome.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/middle-child%20syndrome. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “middle-child syndrome,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/middle-child%20syndrome.

Source: middle-child syndrome on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.