"middlesome" meaning in English

See middlesome in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Forms: more middlesome [comparative], most middlesome [superlative]
Etymology: From middle + -some. Etymology templates: {{suf|en|middle|some|pos=adjective}} middle + -some Head templates: {{en-adj}} middlesome (comparative more middlesome, superlative most middlesome)
  1. (rare) Characterised or marked by moderation; tending toward the middle; intermediate; middling; average Tags: rare
    Sense id: en-middlesome-en-adj-aY0DN~7a Categories (other): English adjectives suffixed with -some, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English adjectives suffixed with -some: 77 23 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 90 10 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 86 14 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 89 11

Adverb

Forms: more middlesome [comparative], most middlesome [superlative]
Etymology: From middle + -some. Etymology templates: {{suf|en|middle|some|pos=adjective}} middle + -some Head templates: {{en-adv}} middlesome (comparative more middlesome, superlative most middlesome)
  1. (rare) In a middlesome manner; moderately Tags: rare
    Sense id: en-middlesome-en-adv-aTv1MD1-
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "middle",
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        "pos": "adjective"
      },
      "expansion": "middle + -some",
      "name": "suf"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From middle + -some.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more middlesome",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most middlesome",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "77 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English adjectives suffixed with -some",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "90 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "86 14",
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          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "89 11",
          "kind": "other",
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        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              184,
              194
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1711, The Country, Survey, Book:",
          "text": "The Necessity of having one to assist him in measuring his Lines with the Chain, as oft as he would practise his Skill, or get more; and the exposing of his Unreadiness to the View of middlesome People, while he is yet raw and unexperienc'd, as every one must needs be at first: Both which may in a good measure be avoided by this easy Knack.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              13,
              23
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2000, R. D. Sharma, Administrative systems of developing societies:",
          "text": "Frequent and middlesome interference by the politician with details of day-today administration will not only hamper smooth working of government but also shake the morale of the Civil Servants. A.D. Gorwala in his Report on Public Administration in India refers to the following instance.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              26,
              36
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2006, Richard Rampello, Acts of Novelty Are Unburdened Truths:",
          "text": "Meddlesome and / I'll say middlesome; all right middling / people / You / and me / Dost You Care?",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016, Bravely Second: End Layer - Strategy Guide",
          "text": "Angelo has high HP, but middlesome defences, so it won't be too long before he gets his just desserts."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Characterised or marked by moderation; tending toward the middle; intermediate; middling; average"
      ],
      "id": "en-middlesome-en-adj-aY0DN~7a",
      "links": [
        [
          "moderation",
          "moderation"
        ],
        [
          "middle",
          "middle"
        ],
        [
          "intermediate",
          "intermediate"
        ],
        [
          "middling",
          "middling"
        ],
        [
          "average",
          "average"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) Characterised or marked by moderation; tending toward the middle; intermediate; middling; average"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "middlesome"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
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        "pos": "adjective"
      },
      "expansion": "middle + -some",
      "name": "suf"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From middle + -some.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more middlesome",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most middlesome",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              63,
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          "ref": "2015, Nikolay Leskov, The Steel Flea:",
          "text": "'[...] Don't drink too little and don't drink too much – drink middlesome.'",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a middlesome manner; moderately"
      ],
      "id": "en-middlesome-en-adv-aTv1MD1-",
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          "moderately",
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        "(rare) In a middlesome manner; moderately"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
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}
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    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From middle + -some.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more middlesome",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
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    },
    {
      "form": "most middlesome",
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        "superlative"
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              184,
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            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1711, The Country, Survey, Book:",
          "text": "The Necessity of having one to assist him in measuring his Lines with the Chain, as oft as he would practise his Skill, or get more; and the exposing of his Unreadiness to the View of middlesome People, while he is yet raw and unexperienc'd, as every one must needs be at first: Both which may in a good measure be avoided by this easy Knack.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              13,
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            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2000, R. D. Sharma, Administrative systems of developing societies:",
          "text": "Frequent and middlesome interference by the politician with details of day-today administration will not only hamper smooth working of government but also shake the morale of the Civil Servants. A.D. Gorwala in his Report on Public Administration in India refers to the following instance.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              26,
              36
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2006, Richard Rampello, Acts of Novelty Are Unburdened Truths:",
          "text": "Meddlesome and / I'll say middlesome; all right middling / people / You / and me / Dost You Care?",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016, Bravely Second: End Layer - Strategy Guide",
          "text": "Angelo has high HP, but middlesome defences, so it won't be too long before he gets his just desserts."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Characterised or marked by moderation; tending toward the middle; intermediate; middling; average"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "moderation",
          "moderation"
        ],
        [
          "middle",
          "middle"
        ],
        [
          "intermediate",
          "intermediate"
        ],
        [
          "middling",
          "middling"
        ],
        [
          "average",
          "average"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) Characterised or marked by moderation; tending toward the middle; intermediate; middling; average"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "middlesome"
}

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    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
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  "etymology_text": "From middle + -some.",
  "forms": [
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      "form": "more middlesome",
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    },
    {
      "form": "most middlesome",
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        "superlative"
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              63,
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            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2015, Nikolay Leskov, The Steel Flea:",
          "text": "'[...] Don't drink too little and don't drink too much – drink middlesome.'",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a middlesome manner; moderately"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "moderately",
          "moderately"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) In a middlesome manner; moderately"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "middlesome"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-02-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-02-01 using wiktextract (f492ef9 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.