What Does Mid Mean?
Mid means average, mediocre, or unimpressive. Something that's mid isn't necessarily bad — it's just aggressively okay. And in internet culture, being mid might actually be worse than being bad, because at least bad is memorable.
Calling something mid is the ultimate dismissal. You're not even mad. You're just... underwhelmed.
Where Did Mid Come From?
Mid has been used in wrestling communities for years (a "mid-card" wrestler is someone in the middle of the roster — not a main eventer, not a jobber). It also appeared in weed culture to describe average-quality marijuana.
The word exploded on TikTok and Twitter around 2021-2022, particularly after a viral clip of a wrestling promo where someone declared something "mid" with devastating confidence. It became THE insult for anything that's just... fine.
How to Use Mid
- Reviews: "Finally tried that restaurant everyone hypes up. It was mid, honestly."
- Hot takes: "Unpopular opinion but that movie was mid."
- Comparisons: "Season 1 was incredible. Season 2? Mid."
- The ultimate diss: Simply calling a person "mid" is devastating.
Examples in the Wild
"everyone said this show would change my life and it was... mid. just mid."
"calling something 'mid' is somehow more insulting than calling it bad"
Why It Matters
Mid captures a very specific emotional response: the disappointment of expecting something great and getting something merely adequate. In an age of hype culture where everything is either "the best ever" or "literally unwatchable," mid reclaims the vast middle ground. Sometimes things are just okay. And that's the harshest review of all.