Mediocre 一词源自拉丁语mediocris（中等高度或状态的、中等的、普通的，字面义“半山腰上的”，喻指“平庸的、卑贱的、低劣的”）。16世纪80年代经法语médiocre进入英语后，比较有意思的是，经过四个多世纪的连续使用， mediocre 一直是用来表示“平庸的、普通的、一般的”，含义几乎没有什么变化。使用时常作贬义词，主要指中等或低质量、价值、能力或表现的，常意味着远达不到人们所谓好的标准，因而也被进一步用来引申指“不够好的、第二流的或劣等的”，

比如：

The industrious student's school record was mediocre.那个勤勉的学生在学校成绩平平。

Spending much time reading mediocre paperbacks has impaired his vision.花大量时间阅读拙劣的平装书损害了他的视力。

We will improve the system for assessing officials’ performance and see that officials have a correct understanding of what it means to perform well. We should also see that officials can be demoted as well as promoted and dismissed as well as recruited, thereby creating an environment in which the competent are elevated, the outstanding are rewarded, the mediocre are demoted, and the incompetent are dismissed.权威用例完善干部考核评价体系，引导干部树立和践行正确政绩观，推动干部能上能下、能进能出，形成能者上、优者奖、庸者下、劣者汰的良好局面。

出自党的二十大报告（双语全文）

medium: about halfway between two extremes of size or another quality; average middling: moderate or average in size, amount, or rank moderate: average in amount, intensity, quality, or degree同近义词