Qualities
Synonyms for average
Synonyms for average: fair, medium and ordinary. Every one of them is a hand audited pair from the Synonym Stack word bank, shown below in the sense it fits, in a real sentence, and beside the words that only look close.
The 3 synonyms for average
Interchangeable with average, one per sense
Audited under average's own entry, so the meaning quoted is the one average carries in that sense.
- fairadjective, in the sense "lacking exceptional quality or ability"
- mediumadjective, in the sense "around the middle of a scale of evaluation"
Recorded from the other side of the pair
These entries were written under the other word and name average as the true synonym, so the sense quoted is theirs.
- ordinaryordinary is an adjective in the sense "lacking special distinction, rank, or status"
The first group is filed under average's own senses. The second reaches average from the partner word's entry, so the sense quoted beside it is that word's.
lacking exceptional quality or ability
A novel of average merit.
average in 2 more sentences, same sense
- The waiter shrugged and admitted the soup was average, nothing he'd recommend twice.
- Her second album was average, the kind of record critics forget by spring.
How it behaves: In this sense average usually modifies a noun for a work, performance, or product and often appears after a linking verb like was or seemed in mildly disappointed, understated criticism.
The true synonym
fair
Same sentence, swapped: A novel of fair merit.
Close but different
Distractors, not synonyms. This entry has no written reason line yet, so read them against the sentence and the sense above.
- median
- standard
- plastic
Opposites, in this sense
exceptional, outstanding and extraordinary reverse average as it is used in the sentence above. A different sense of average takes different opposites, which is why these sit inside the sense and not at the top of the page.
- exceptional
- outstanding
- extraordinary
around the middle of a scale of evaluation
An orange of average size.
The true synonym
medium
Same sentence, swapped: An orange of medium size.
Close but different
The game offers these three alongside the answer. They are close enough to tempt and wrong enough to be wrong, which is the whole design.
- plastic
- current
- stock
Where average turns up in the game
average is the word under test in two puzzles, spread across two difficulty tiers. It also sits on the board as one of the three wrong tiles in three other puzzles, where the answer is a different word entirely.
The puzzles where average is the trap
- fairadjective, Tier 1, Foothills. The answer there is just, in the sense "free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception", with average sitting one tile away.
- plasticadjective, Tier 3, Ridgeline. The answer there is shaping, in the sense "forming or capable of forming or molding or fashioning", with average sitting one tile away.
- plasticadjective, Tier 5, Summit. The answer there is moldable, in the sense "capable of being molded or modeled (especially of earth or clay or other soft material)", with average sitting one tile away.
Play average
The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so average reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.
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Closest first: other qualities words at Foothills, then the same tier across the rest of the library.
The same bank, read from both sides
average is an answer in 2 puzzles and a wrong tile in 3. That is how the bank is built, and it is why guessing by vibe stops working around tier three.