How to Use second-rate in a Sentence

second-rate

adjective

• Virtual meetings aren’t just second-rate versions of the in-person kind.
  — William Arruda, Forbes, 12 Sep. 2024
• For some philosophers, hope is a second-rate way of relating to reality.
  — Big Think, 24 June 2024
• 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
• No one wants polluted air and water, but no American wants to live in a second-rate nation.
  — Suwanna Gauntlett Upjohn, Forbes.com, 4 July 2025
• Ultimately, they might be forced to accept a system that codifies them as second-rate.
  — Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 4 June 2025
• The Trojans still had few postseason options available to them beyond a second-rate bowl game.
  — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2024
• The world’s most valuable basketball franchise has a second-rate broadcasting team.
  — Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 5 May 2024
• The freshman quarterback has faced second-rate competition thus far and has daunting matchups next month.
  — Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 24 Sep. 2025
• 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
• But even as China emerged as a major car manufacturer, its homegrown brands were still seen as second-rate.
  — Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 2 May 2025
• His cigars weren’t as nasty as his habit of chasing bad money with worse—high living and foolish investments, with second-rate writing meant to plug the gap.
  — Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
• 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
• Meanwhile, TPUs are far from a second-rate technology.
  — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 17 Dec. 2025
• While Holmes won’t be behind the wheel, Hettinger Racing isn’t settling for second-rate talent.
  — Greg Engle, Forbes, 29 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
• European soccer elitists turn up their noses at the Europa League because of its second-rate status.
  — Alex Tabet, NBC news, 20 May 2025
• It must be acknowledged and accepted that educators are the experts in their profession and not second-rate.
  — Patricia A. Daniel, Baltimore Sun, 13 Apr. 2025
• High-quality data have failed to validate those questions, so second-rate research has often been used to make the case against mifepristone.
  — Keren Landman, The Atlantic, 24 May 2025
• His appearance in Meghan’s [‘Baby Mama Dance’] video looked so second-rate.
  — Stephanie Nolasco , Ashley Papa, FOXNews.com, 8 July 2025
• 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
• In Prime 4, Samus is humorless, simply nodding along while others try their best at second-rate comedy.
  — Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 2 Dec. 2025
• 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
• 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
• Farke has found a way to maximise Firpo’s talents, even with the caveat this is a former Barcelona full-back playing against second-rate opposition.
  — Beren Cross, The Athletic, 21 Mar. 2025
• The Hundred feels like a second-rate cartoon animation in comparison.
  — Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2025
• Moreno said Bad Bunny is a second-rate performer and said his performing at the Super Bowl is a partisan choice.
  — Chad Murphy, Cincinnati Enquirer, 9 Oct. 2025
• 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
• Sometime in the late 18th century, though, offal started suffering from an image problem, viewed by some people to be an affordable but second-rate food.
  — Valerie Trapp, The Atlantic, 17 Apr. 2025
• 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
• 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