A dielectric ceramic is provided having a high relative dielectric constant, and in the case in which it is used for a multilayer ceramic capacitor, high insulating properties and superior reliability can be obtained even when the thickness of a dielectric ceramic layer is decreased. The dielectric ceramic used for forming the dielectric ceramic layer of a multilayer ceramic capacitor has a composition represented by 100 (Ba.sub.1-w-x-mCa.sub.wSr.sub.xGd.sub.m).sub.k(Ti.sub.1-y-z-nZr.sub.y- Hf.sub.zMg.sub.n)O.sub.3+a+pMnO.sub.2+qSiO.sub.2+rCuO, in which 0.995.ltoreq.k.ltoreq.1.010, 0.ltoreq.w<0.04, 0.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.0.04, 0.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.0.10, 0.ltoreq.z.ltoreq.0.05, 0.015.ltoreq.m.ltoreq.0.035, 0.015.ltoreq.n.ltoreq.0.035, 0.01.ltoreq.p.ltoreq.1.0, 0.5.ltoreq.q.ltoreq.2.5, and 0.01.ltoreq.r.ltoreq.5.0. In addition, a is a value selected with respect to the deviation from 3 so that the primary component is electrically neutral.