1
: of middle, medium, or moderate size, degree, or quality
2
3
: of, relating to, or being a middle class
middling
adverb
1
: any of various commodities of intermediate size, quality, or position
2
middlings plural in form but singular or plural in construction
: a granular product of grain milling
especially
: a wheat milling by-product used in animal feeds
Synonyms
Examples of middling in a Sentence
Adjective
tired of the city but not particularly interested in small-town life, he moved to a suburb of middling size
was disappointed in the renowned historian's latest book, which is only middling
Recent Examples on the Web
Paolo Confino, Fortune, 25 Apr. 2024
The Warriors have an aging roster that just finished a middling season.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 18 Apr. 2024
But this Heat team fashioned a middling 46-36 regular-season record largely owing to sporadic injuries to key players spawning inconsistency, and unusual mediocrity (22-19) on the home court.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 15 Apr. 2024
At Arkansas, where the Razorbacks had been a middling program since the early 1990s, Musselman led the program to the Elite Eight by his second season, then reached the tournament’s second weekend in each of the next two.
—Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024
This is Butler’s time, or should be: spring, the start of the N.B.A. postseason, when Butler transforms into Playoff Jimmy and leads the middling Miami Heat to glory, as sure as the daffodils.
—Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2024
By the time Taylor-Johnson came aboard with her husband in the lead role, Frey had long since apologized and the literary furor had died down, but so had most of the interest in the film, which received a modest independent release and middling reviews.
—Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2024
The observations favor the erosion of dark energy with the sort of middling statistical significance that could easily vanish with additional data.
—Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 4 Apr. 2024
However, middling battery life, an average screen, and a cramped keyboard put the Commercial 14 behind the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 5 for our favorite entry-level business laptop.
—PCMAG, 27 Mar. 2024
Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 29 Mar. 2024
And yet audiences don’t seem to care about the middling notices.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 29 Mar. 2024
Even with a nice win Tuesday, the Warriors’ middling and chaotic start to this campaign has left no reasonable doubt — the Warriors are in an era of transition, with all the counterbalancing ups and downs that will come along with it.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 3 Jan. 2024
Underway, the Compass remains relatively composed when leaned on, delivering a middling 0.81 g of grip from its 225/60R-17 Firestone Destination LE2 all-season rubber.
—David Beard, Car and Driver, 22 June 2023
More recent investments by other tech companies into VR experiences — sometimes called the metaverse — have generally been regarded as middling at best.
—Sara Ruberg, NBC News, 5 June 2023
Wakanda Forever’s two-hour and 41-minute run time, its middling-to-positive reviews, and the absence of original star Chadwick Boseman, who imbued his titular role as Black Panther/King T’Challa with regal swagger and a stately decorum not commonly associated with comic-book movies.
—Vulture, 14 Nov. 2022
Sainristil and the defense will be tasked with stopping one of the best QB-receiver tandems in the country — TCU’s Max Duggan and Quentin Johnston — while Zinter and Mullings look to take advantage of the Horned Frogs’ middling defense.
—Amin Touri, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Dec. 2022
Perhaps even worse are the optics, Kingsbury's offense middling at best amid underachieving QB Kyler Murray's constant ranting at his coach and teammates during games.
—Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 18 Nov. 2022
Adjective
After 14 years in government the Conservatives are widely expected to get trounced by Labour as voters express frustration with the middling economy and the party’s inability to connect with the young and economically disadvantaged.
—Paolo Confino, Fortune, 25 Apr. 2024
The Warriors have an aging roster that just finished a middling season.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 18 Apr. 2024
But this Heat team fashioned a middling 46-36 regular-season record largely owing to sporadic injuries to key players spawning inconsistency, and unusual mediocrity (22-19) on the home court.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 15 Apr. 2024
At Arkansas, where the Razorbacks had been a middling program since the early 1990s, Musselman led the program to the Elite Eight by his second season, then reached the tournament’s second weekend in each of the next two.
—Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024
This is Butler’s time, or should be: spring, the start of the N.B.A. postseason, when Butler transforms into Playoff Jimmy and leads the middling Miami Heat to glory, as sure as the daffodils.
—Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2024
By the time Taylor-Johnson came aboard with her husband in the lead role, Frey had long since apologized and the literary furor had died down, but so had most of the interest in the film, which received a modest independent release and middling reviews.
—Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2024
The observations favor the erosion of dark energy with the sort of middling statistical significance that could easily vanish with additional data.
—Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 4 Apr. 2024
However, middling battery life, an average screen, and a cramped keyboard put the Commercial 14 behind the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 5 for our favorite entry-level business laptop.
—PCMAG, 27 Mar. 2024
Noun
McGraw wishes aid for the Chiefs and Royals would be weighed separately, given the Royals’ middling on-field performance.
—Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 29 Mar. 2024
And yet audiences don’t seem to care about the middling notices.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 29 Mar. 2024
Even with a nice win Tuesday, the Warriors’ middling and chaotic start to this campaign has left no reasonable doubt — the Warriors are in an era of transition, with all the counterbalancing ups and downs that will come along with it.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 3 Jan. 2024
Underway, the Compass remains relatively composed when leaned on, delivering a middling 0.81 g of grip from its 225/60R-17 Firestone Destination LE2 all-season rubber.
—David Beard, Car and Driver, 22 June 2023
More recent investments by other tech companies into VR experiences — sometimes called the metaverse — have generally been regarded as middling at best.
—Sara Ruberg, NBC News, 5 June 2023
Wakanda Forever’s two-hour and 41-minute run time, its middling-to-positive reviews, and the absence of original star Chadwick Boseman, who imbued his titular role as Black Panther/King T’Challa with regal swagger and a stately decorum not commonly associated with comic-book movies.
—Vulture, 14 Nov. 2022
Sainristil and the defense will be tasked with stopping one of the best QB-receiver tandems in the country — TCU’s Max Duggan and Quentin Johnston — while Zinter and Mullings look to take advantage of the Horned Frogs’ middling defense.
—Amin Touri, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Dec. 2022
Perhaps even worse are the optics, Kingsbury's offense middling at best amid underachieving QB Kyler Murray's constant ranting at his coach and teammates during games.
—Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 18 Nov. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'middling.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near middling
Cite this Entry
“Middling.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/middling. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
middling
1 of 2 adjective
mid·dling
ˈmid-liŋ 
-lən
: of medium size, degree, or quality
middling
adverb
middling
2 of 2 noun1
: any of various products of medium quality or size
2
plural
: a product produced by milling grain
especially
: a product of wheat milling that is used in animal feeds
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