Közepes

Közepes is a Hungarian adjective meaning middle, medium, or average. It describes size, amount, degree, or quality and is used to indicate something that is neither small nor large, neither poor nor excellent. The word is formed from the stem közép, meaning middle, with the suffix -es to produce an adjective.

In usage, közepes commonly modifies nouns to express a medium or average characteristic. For example, közepes méretű ajtó refers to a medium-sized door, közepes ár to an average or moderate price, and közepes minőségű termék to a product of mid-level quality. It can also function predicatively, as in Az ár közepes, meaning the price is average or moderate. The sense can be neutral, but in certain contexts, especially reviews or grading, it conveys an attitude of “adequate but not outstanding.”

In education or testing, közepes often corresponds to an average performance, such as a grade around three on a five-point scale. Translations into English include medium, average, mid-range, and moderate, depending on the context. The term is versatile across domains such as size, quantity, price, quality, and performance, making it a common descriptor in everyday Hungarian as well as in formal descriptions.

Related terms include átlagos (average) and mérsékelt (moderate), which share a similar sense of middling or intermediate quality. The nuance of közepes rests on its neutrality, signaling middle ground rather than extremity.