What is middelmådig?

Middelmådig is the Danish word for mediocre, and literally means “something of a quality which is largely less than average”.

Similar words and phrases include halvdårlig (“half-bad”) or jævn, meaning “even” but taken as “mediocre” in the right context; af tvivlsom kvalitet (“of dubious quality”) and ringe, which means “poor” but can have connotations of “disappointing”.

The structure of the word is also interesting. Middel translates simply to “middle” or “mid” in English. Mådig is related to måde, which can mean “method”, “mode” or “way” in English, but also closely relates to the characteristics of something or someone.

You can, for example, talk about den bedste måde at gøre det på (”the best way to do it”). A standard phrase in response to someone wishing you a good morning or pleasant day is i lige måde, literally “in the same way”, meaning “the same to you”.

Another interesting use of måde is in the phrase det skal være med måde, meaning to do something neither excessively nor insufficiently: du må gerne spise chokolade, med alt skal være med måde (“you can eat chocolate, but everything should be done in moderation”).

Why do I need to know middelmådig?

To say something is middelmådig is certainly not a complement in Danish, where people generally set their standards quite high, especially when it comes to things like restaurants, architecture or design.

If you hear someone say maden var middelmådig (“the food was mediocre”) about the taste of the wine or main course they had when they went out last week, they probably actually mean it was terrible. Danes do not tend to exaggerate or overstated, regardless of whether they are praising or criticising.

Similarly, someone that possesses the quality of ren middelmådighed (“pure mediocrity”) is not likely to stand out at all in their field.