Mediocre vs Least - What's the difference?
mediocre | least |
Ordinary: not extraordinary; not special, exceptional, or great; of medium quality;
(little);The smallest amount of [something .
* 1857 , (Edmund March Blunt), The American Coast Pilot: Containing Directions for the Principal Harbors , E. & G.W. Blunt, page 135:
* John Duncan, Duncan's Travels
* , chapter=5
, title= *{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
, passage=Charles had not been employed above six months at Darracott Place, but he was not such a whopstraw as to make the least noise in the performance of his duties when his lordship was out of humour.}}
* 2004 , Jim Baggott, Beyond Measure: Modern Physics, Philosophy, and the Meaning of Quantum Theory , Oxford University Press, page 48:
Used for forming superlatives of adjectives, especially those that do not form the superlative by adding -est .
In the smallest or lowest degree; in a degree below all others.
As an adjective mediocre
is mediocre (ordinary: not extraordinary; not special, exceptional, or great; of medium quality).As a determiner least is
(little);the smallest amount of [something.As an adverb least is
used for forming superlatives of adjectives, especially those that do not form the superlative by adding -est .mediocre
English
Alternative forms
* mediocer (obsolete) * (dated)Adjective
(en adjective)- I'm pretty good at tennis but only mediocre at racquetball.
Synonyms
* middling * See alsoExternal links
* * ----least
English
Determiner
(en-det) (comparative less)- The least water we could find there was 4 fathoms, which bears from the point S.E., and is distant 1½ mile.
- To have demolished and rebuilt the walls, would have been a very costly expedient, and as the least of two evils, the painter's brush was resorted to; here and there however, above some of the windows, the black wreathings of the smoke are still discernible through the white covering.
Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=“Well,” I says, “I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough.” ¶ She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.}}
- Light does not need to know in advance which is the path of least time because it takes all paths from its source to its destination.
Usage notes
Some grammarians recommend to use least'' only with uncountable nouns, as in the examples above with the ''smallest amount of sense: * 1965 , H. W. Fowler, Fowler’s Modern English Usage: Second Edition : *: [W]hen the context—unemotional statement of everyday facts—is taken into account, at a less price'' ought to be ''at a lower price'', and ''a lesser prize'' ought to be ''a smaller prize . To such grammarians least'' is the superlative of ''a little'', not that of ''little'', so it does not mean ''smallest'', but ''the smallest amount of''. With plural nouns, they recommend ''fewest .Adverb
- It was the least surprising thing.
- to reward those who least deserve it
