- 1平庸的（偏負面；不是「中等尺寸」）
If something is mediocre, it is not very good. It sits in the middle: not terrible, but not something to be proud of either. A mediocre meal fills you, but you will not remember it. A mediocre film is one you sit through and then forget. The word is almost always a quiet complaint. People do not say it as a kind “so-so”; they say it when they hoped for better. It is a little formal — you hear it in reviews, school reports, and grown-up talk more than in the playground — but it is not rare. You can use it of work, food, a player, a book, a lesson. Though actually, it does not mean “medium” as in size. A medium-sized apple can be excellent; a mediocre apple is a disappointing one.
From the word’s history
From French médiocre, from Latin mediocris 'middling'.
借自法文 médiocre，源自拉丁文 mediocris「中等的」。
組成From late Middle English medioker, from French médiocre, from Latin mediocris (“in a middle state, middling”), from medius (“middle”) + ocris (“a rugged mountain”). The old picture is “halfway up a rough mountain”: neither the top nor the bottom.
同家族的字
- mediocritythe noun: the state of being only middling, or a person who is never more than ordinary
- mediocrelythe uncommon adverb: in a mediocre way
原始詞典資料3 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
mediocreadj/ˌmiːdɪˈəʊkə/
- 1
Not excellent or outstanding, usually disappointingly so.
- I'm pretty good at tennis but only mediocre at racquetball.
- The standard ranges from runs that are almost sensational in the speed and brilliance of the work to the ultra-mediocre.
mediocrenoun/ˌmiːdɪˈəʊkə/
- 1
A person of minor significance, accomplishment or acclaim; a common and undistinguished person.
- Of the hundreds of inferior poets, who are continually offering their sonnets and addresses to the Moon, (or to the public instead of that luminary,) Wade, Barton, Wiffen, and Bailey, are the most conspicuous. Wade is a new aspirant, but gives strong prognostications of genius. Barton and Bailey are above the mediocres, and Wiffen tolerable.
- After this lecture, how do the mediocres feel? They probably feel indifferent or mad. Perhaps they were not even paying attention. The question is, are they more likely to be in the hallway tomorrow? Probably not.
- 2
historicalA member of a socioeconomic class between the upper ranks of society and the agricultural workers.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。