middling

middling
middling, middlingly
Middling has been used as an adjective in various senses since the 15c, but is now more commonly found as an adverb, a use attested from the 18c. In this role it competes with middlingly, which is recorded from the same date and was used by Dr Johnson in his definition of the word indifferently. Modern examples of each are:

• See that man over there, slim, middling-tall, middling-dark? That man is following you —Guardian, 1991

• The many social gradations which lay between these extremes, gradations which embraced both the modestly rich and the middlingly poor —A. Sanders, 2003.

A common use of middling as an adjective is in the combination middling-to-large:

• I do…know that something will turn up. A child, to be exact. In six months' time. Which will have broadly the same effect on my finances as a middling-to-large war has on a developing nation —Times, 2002.


Modern English usage. 2014.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Middling — Mid dling, a. Of middle rank, state, size, or quality; about equally distant from the extremes; medium; moderate; mediocre; ordinary. A town of but middling size. Hallam. [1913 Webster] Plainly furnished, as beseemed the middling circumstances of …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Middling — Middling. См. Промежуточный продукт. (Источник: «Металлы и сплавы. Справочник.» Под редакцией Ю.П. Солнцева; НПО Профессионал , НПО Мир и семья ; Санкт Петербург, 2003 г.) …   Словарь металлургических терминов

  • middling — index average (midmost), fair (satisfactory), imperfect, marginal, mediocre, nondescript, ordinary …   Law dictionary

  • middling — (adj.) 1540s, from Scottish mydlyn (mid 15c.), from MIDDLE (Cf. middle) + suffix ing. Used to designate the second of three grades of goods. As an adverb by 1719 …   Etymology dictionary

  • middling — *medium, mediocre, second rate, moderate, average, fair, indifferent …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • middling — [adj] adequate, okay all right, average, common, conventional, decent, fair, fairish, good, indifferent, intermediate, mean, mediocre, medium, moderate, modest, okay, ordinary, passable, run of the mill*, so so*, tolerable, traditional,… …   New thesaurus

  • middling — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ moderate or average. ► ADVERB informal ▪ fairly or moderately …   English terms dictionary

  • middling — [mid′liŋ] adj. [ MID1 + LING1] of middle size, quality, grade, etc.; medium; ordinary; mediocre adv. Informal fairly; moderately; somewhat n. ☆ 1. pork or bacon from between the ham and the shoulder 2. [pl.] products of medium quality, grade,… …   English World dictionary

  • middling — middlingly, adv. /mid ling/, adj. 1. medium, moderate, oraverage in size, quantity, or quality: The returns on such a large investment may be only middling. 2. mediocre; ordinary; commonplace; pedestrian: The restaurant s entrées are no better… …   Universalium

  • middling — [[t]mɪ̱dəlɪŋ[/t]] ADJ: usu ADJ n If you describe a quality such as the size of something as middling, you mean that it is average. The Beatles enjoyed only middling success until 1963. ...a man of middling height. Syn: average …   English dictionary

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