mid

Mid means mediocre: not bad, not good, just average. Calling something mid is a mild but cutting put-down. It suggests whatever everyone is hyping up is actually pretty forgettable.

What does mid mean?

Mid sits right in the middle of the scale, which is where the name comes from. A mid movie isn’t terrible, but you won’t remember it. A mid restaurant is fine if you are starving. The sting comes from the contrast with expectations: people usually save “mid” for something that was supposed to be great.

It is mostly used as an adjective, and sometimes as a one-word review: “Mid.”

How to use it

• “Everyone said that show was amazing, but honestly it was mid.”
• “The new menu is mid. Bring back the old one.”
• “Rate my outfit.” “Mid, sorry.”
• “That album had three good songs and the rest was mid.”

Where it comes from

“Mid” is a shortening of “middle” or “mid-tier,” and the idea of something being mid-grade has been around for a long time. As a standalone insult it spread through Black American slang, hip-hop and sports talk before becoming a staple of Gen Z reviews on TikTok and X in the early 2020s.

Mid vs. bad

Bad means it failed. Mid means it didn’t deserve the hype. That is why “mid” can sometimes feel more insulting than calling something terrible: at least terrible is memorable.

Related terms

• fire: the opposite, excellent
• bussin: really good, especially food
• slaps: something (usually music) that’s great
• L: a loss
• hot take: a bold opinion

See more terms like this in our Gen Z slang dictionary.