mediocrity

But above all, he told his students, train yourselves “never to mistake mediocrity, however brilliant, for true greatness.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

The answer to that question is in the mediocrity that most of these people are trying to hide, often even from themselves.

From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2026

But this section is where the album drifts into mediocrity, with a handful of meandering, mid-tempo love songs that don't really add much to the overall package.

From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026

Neither will mediocrity or the sentimentality from Jeanie Buss.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2026

The strength of this immutable desire saved her from the mediocrity and sadness of her fate.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

The partition that once sealed out the cranks and mediocrities has been permanently sundered.

From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2026

But they were also politicians, self-serving and ambitious, often well-born mediocrities flying high above their general level of talent.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 30, 2022

The hothouse atmosphere of festivals can be misleading and turn mediocrities into events, certainly, but the noisy clamor of such hype is always outweighed by the joys of experiencing discoveries and revelations with others.

From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 2022

These mediocrities, drunk with their own self-importance, equate celebrity, power and wealth with wisdom.

From Salon ● Dec. 8, 2021

It’s why picking the right candidate for a job is so difficult and why, on more occasions than we may care to admit, utter mediocrities sometimes end up in positions of enormous responsibility.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell