How to Use second-rate in a Sentence

second-rate

adjective

• These fans understand that M.L.S. is a second-rate show, and that the real hot action is taking place overseas, in the élite leagues of Europe.
  — Jody Rosen, The New Yorker, 23 July 2023
• After all, the media companies are only going to spend so much for the rights to broadcast second-rate games.
  — Jon Wilner | , oregonlive, 14 Aug. 2023
• Virtual meetings aren’t just second-rate versions of the in-person kind.
  — William Arruda, Forbes, 12 Sep. 2024
• While Holmes won’t be behind the wheel, Hettinger Racing isn’t settling for second-rate talent.
  — Greg Engle, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
• The Trojans still had few postseason options available to them beyond a second-rate bowl game.
  — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2024
• Here’s a selection of the best upcoming events where there’ll be no need to eat out of a Styrofoam box or listen to second-rate indie bands.
  — Joe Minihane, CNN, 5 Mar. 2023
• For some philosophers, hope is a second-rate way of relating to reality.
  — Big Think, 24 June 2024
• Frozen blueberries are especially handy to have around for drink recipes—and not just as a second-rate substitute for fresh produce.
  — Ali Ramee, Southern Living, 2 July 2023
• The sing-song qualities of his music did not sit well with many music critics, who dismissed him as a second-rate talent with little to offer.
  — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Sep. 2023
• Moore herself has, with sly self-mockery, invoked Stephen Sondheim’s line that excessive bird imagery is a sign of a second-rate poet.
  — Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 12 June 2023
• The world’s most valuable basketball franchise has a second-rate broadcasting team.
  — Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 5 May 2024
• However, the thing that really bothers many parents like me who opt for medicated births is the idea that this kind of scenario is somehow second-rate.
  — Marisa Cohen, Parents, 12 Aug. 2023
• East Coast media have started to sour on sample sale culture, with their hours-long waits, appointment systems and second-rate selection.
  — Dave Schilling, Los Angeles Times, 17 Nov. 2023
• After the composer’s death, a hokey big operatic ending got tacked on with a showy duet by a second-rate composer, Franco Alfano.
  — Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2024
• But there’s another component to the issue of second-rate men’s basketball: The collective ceiling.
  — Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2024
• While the setup is often different from what happens in a bustling medical office, a new study blows away quibbles over protocol and suggests that even when done perfectly, the method is second-rate.
  — Ars Technica, 24 Jan. 2025
• Aside from the weather, hourlong wait times for food, defective wristbands and second-rate VIP experiences were among the complaints from festivalgoers.
  — Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 5 May 2024
• According to Charter, Disney had placed some of its best content exclusively on its streamers, leaving cable with second-rate content.
  — Bypaolo Confino, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2023
• Movies based on vintage, often second-rate network shows don’t usually offer audiences much more than weak, watery nostalgia.
  — Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 3 May 2024
• And if Russia is a second-rate energy power, Putin’s political and economic model, much less his imperialist fantasies, no longer makes sense.
  — Edward Fishman, Foreign Affairs, 23 Feb. 2023