thirdhand
adjective
third·hand
ˈthərd-ˈhand 
1
: received from or through two intermediaries
thirdhand information
2
a
: acquired after being used by two previous owners
b
: dealing in thirdhand merchandise
Examples of thirdhand in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
On social media the same day, users amplified similar claims with thirdhand accounts.
—
Maria Ramirez Uribe and Amy Sherman, Journal Sentinel, 18 Dec. 2024
This message is conveyed to me thirdhand, via the guy who ran the small Detroit label that put out the first White Stripes seven-inches back in 1998, who has spoken with the band’s extremely introverted drummer’s close friend, who apparently has delivered my request to the woman herself.
—Melissa Giannini, ELLE, 1 June 2023
The Information’s report also contains the potentially staggering thirdhand allegation that Google stooped so low as to train Bard using data from OpenAI’s ChatGPT, scraped from a website called ShareGPT.
—Sean Hollister, The Verge, 30 Mar. 2023
Secondhand and thirdhand smoke from both regular and e-cigarettes, may expose children to metals such as cadmium and lead.
—Dr. Aaron Bernstein, Chicago Tribune, 26 Sep. 2022
More:What is thirdhand smoke?
—The Enquirer, 8 Sep. 2022
He’s heard they were killed by the government, though word of their deaths — like much of the news from Cuba — was unofficial and thirdhand from Collazo’s grandmother, who is friends with the grandmother of one of the men.
—Washington Post, 9 Aug. 2021
In asserting that the death was murder, Dostoevsky’s daughter Lyubov had relied on thirdhand information.
—Gary Saul Morson, The New York Review of Books, 15 June 2021
In the teleconference, Gentner and Sheu didn’t have any direct advice as to lowering the spread of thirdhand smoke.
—Hailey Rose McLaughlin, Discover Magazine, 4 Mar. 2020
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Maria Ramirez Uribe and Amy Sherman, Journal Sentinel, 18 Dec. 2024
This message is conveyed to me thirdhand, via the guy who ran the small Detroit label that put out the first White Stripes seven-inches back in 1998, who has spoken with the band’s extremely introverted drummer’s close friend, who apparently has delivered my request to the woman herself.
—Melissa Giannini, ELLE, 1 June 2023
The Information’s report also contains the potentially staggering thirdhand allegation that Google stooped so low as to train Bard using data from OpenAI’s ChatGPT, scraped from a website called ShareGPT.
—Sean Hollister, The Verge, 30 Mar. 2023
Secondhand and thirdhand smoke from both regular and e-cigarettes, may expose children to metals such as cadmium and lead.
—Dr. Aaron Bernstein, Chicago Tribune, 26 Sep. 2022
More:What is thirdhand smoke?
—The Enquirer, 8 Sep. 2022
He’s heard they were killed by the government, though word of their deaths — like much of the news from Cuba — was unofficial and thirdhand from Collazo’s grandmother, who is friends with the grandmother of one of the men.
—Washington Post, 9 Aug. 2021
In asserting that the death was murder, Dostoevsky’s daughter Lyubov had relied on thirdhand information.
—Gary Saul Morson, The New York Review of Books, 15 June 2021
In the teleconference, Gentner and Sheu didn’t have any direct advice as to lowering the spread of thirdhand smoke.
—Hailey Rose McLaughlin, Discover Magazine, 4 Mar. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Thirdhand.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thirdhand. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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