Mid means mediocre, average or unimpressive — not awful, just not good. ‘That movie was mid’ means it was thoroughly okay.

Where does mid come from?

It’s short for ‘middle’/‘middling’ and spread through gaming and Twitter as a dismissive verdict, becoming a common Gen Z put-down by the mid-2020s.

Yes, mildly — it’s damning with faint praise, treating ‘average’ as a letdown.

Specimen 093 · Judicium mediocrii · Field Notes

Mid

Mid means mediocre, average or unimpressive — not terrible, just not good. “That movie was mid” means it was thoroughly okay, and that’s the insult.

Where mid came from

Mid is short for “middle”/“middling” — right in the unremarkable centre. It spread through gaming and Twitter, often as a dismissive verdict, and became a staple Gen Z put-down by the mid-2020s (sometimes paired with “L + ratio” in playful roasting).

What it means and how it's used

Calling something mid is damning with faint praise: “the food was mid,” “that take is mid.” The sting is that ‘average’ is treated as a failure.

Sources

Merriam-Webster / Dictionary.com slang coverage · Wikipedia, “Glossary of 2020s slang.” Replace with live links at launch.