second-rate Hear it!

second-rate Definition

second-rate (sek′ənd rāt′)

adjective

  1. second in quality, rank, etc.; second-class
  2. inferior; mediocre; inadequate

second-rate Related Forms

sec′ond-rate′ness noun sec′ond-rat′er noun

second-rate Synonyms

second-rate

modif.

mediocre, inferior, common; see poor 2.

second-rate Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • service: A new generation of boats is sailing the Red Sea and there are no excuses for second-rate service.
  • power: He saw France cut up, partitioned and reduced to the rank of a second-rate power, even to that of an oppressed nation.
  • man: In the recent conversions, he asks, " Have we lost a single second-rate man even?
  • mind: Exposition, criticism, appreciation, is work for second-rate minds.
  • building: A second-rate building, despoiling a first-class archeological site, in a city of world renown.
  • boy: In Frank on the Beach, she has him play sex-kitten, sprawled like a second-rate rent boy in the muddy surf at sunset.

Modifying Another Word

  • very: His position as a man of wealth might make his alliance of value, but as a lover he was very second-rate.
  • not: We should be first-rate women, not second-rate men ' .
  • rather: When they are developed tomorrow, I will post them to this site, to replace the rather second-rate ones there at present.

Used with adjective complement

feel: But, and I think this is the point I've been struggling to grasp, to me it feels second-rate, somehow.