Five Hard Words Play today

Tier five of five

How to spell mediocre

What it means

moderate to inferior in quality

How it sounds

/ˌmidiˈoʊkər/

Why it catches people out

Med plus iocre, not -icore.

The spellings people reach for

In a sentence

The meal was frankly mediocre.

First appeared in

Puzzle #102 — November 3, 2026