MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROADER Synonyms: 18 Similar and Opposite Words

middle-of-the-roader

noun

as in moderate

a person who holds moderate views since the party's middle-of-the-roaders often lack verve, the activists inevitably nominate some extremist who can't win in the general election

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for middle-of-the-roader

Noun

Disaster failures can mobilize political moderates A handful of studies, including mine, have found that people who have experienced a disaster often have higher levels of civic engagement.

— Dana R. Fisher, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2026
Both Gluesenkamp Perez and Braun are considered moderates within their parties, both own small businesses and both reside in rural towns.

— Saige Miller, NPR, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of moderate

Noun

With no party likely to win a majority, Netanyahu’s Likud and its far-right, ultra-Orthodox allies face centrist and left-wing challengers competing to assemble a governing coalition.

— Melanie Lidman, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
With almost all the votes from the two-day ballot counted by the Statistics Office, the centrist ANO (or YES) movement led by the populist billionaire failed to win a single seat.

— ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of centrist

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Cite this Entry

Style

“Middle-of-the-roader.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/middle-of-the-roader. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of middle-of-the-roader

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

vocation

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 23

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes