Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

fair to middling

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.82 in modern English

Syllables
fair -to mid-dling
IPA
22
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
3
Syllables
11
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Only tolerably good; somewhat favorable.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From the practice of classifying agricultural commodities as fair or middling. The earliest attested instance of these descriptions being combined into the phrase fair to middling was in a British publication of 1822 but the first instance of this usage being generalised is from an American publication of 1837

Inflected Forms

fair-to-middling (alternative) fair to middlin' (alternative) fair to meddling (alternative)

Synonyms

adequate OK tolerable passable

Questions

What does fair to middling mean?
Only tolerably good; somewhat favorable.
Where does fair to middling come from?
From the practice of classifying agricultural commodities as fair or middling. The earliest attested instance of these descriptions being combined into the phrase fair to middling was in a British publication of 1822 but the first instance of this usage being generalised is from an American publication of 1837

How to pronounce fair to middling

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