Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Thesaurus

second

noun

Synonyms and Antonyms of second

  1. a very small space of time I'll be ready in a second Synonyms beat, eyeblink, flash, heartbeat, jiff, jiffy, minute, moment, nanosecond, New York minute, second, shake, split second, trice, twinkle, twinkling, winkRelated Words microsecond; snatch, spurtNear Antonyms aeon (or eon), age, eternity, forever; infinity, lifetime

Indulge Your Inner Word Nerd

image1694077559
Which Is The Correct Plural Spelling? (It's a Trick Question)
winning-words-from-the-national-spelling-bee-logo
Winning Words from Scripps Spelling Bee Quiz
alt-5929a3df1de57
Trending: Brzezinski: 'The Sine Qua Non of a Stable World Order'
alt-59270ec8a7c80
A New Dictionary for a New President

second

noun

Synonyms and Antonyms of second

  1. something separated from a group or lot for not being as good as the others the slightly flawed linens were sold as seconds Synonyms discard, reject, rejection, secondRelated Words castaway, throwaway; hand-me-down, white elephant; rubbish, scrap, trash, waste

Learn More about second

  1. Dictionary: Definition of second Spanish Central: Translation of second Nglish: Translation of second for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of second for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about second

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up second? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

skosh

play

a small amount

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. sine qua non 'Something that is considered essential'

  2. suborn "to induce secretly to do an unlawful thing"

  3. nutjob 'a mentally unbalanced person'

  4. collusion 'Secret cooperation for an illegal or dishonest purpose'

  5. counsel Is it 'council' or 'counsel'?

SEE ALL

BROWSE THESAURUS

second

WORD GAMES

Take a 3-minute break and test your skills!

  • winning-words-from-the-national-spelling-bee-logo
  • Which is the correct spelling of the winning word from 1988?
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ
SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-59270ec8a7c80
A New Dictionary for a New President

JFK and Webster's Third

alt-5926e94cc0e45
'Climate' Change

No denying this word's history

alt-5925b73b3a62e
'Author' is a Verb

Beyond the mere act of writing

alt-592708149cf54
Don't Catch 'Flack' for Using 'Flak'

How a word for antiaircraft guns came to refer to PR pro

Ask the Editors

decimate-video
Is it wrong to use 'decimate' to mean 'destroy'?

Language changes

serial-comma
The Serial Comma

Why don't they call it the Merriam-Webster comma?

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

winning-words-from-the-national-spelling-bee-logo
Winning Words from Scripps Spelling Bee Quiz

Can you outdo past winners of the Spelling Bee?

Take the quiz
peter-bruegel-tower-of-babel-painting
Where in the World? A Quiz

Do you know what languages these words come from?

Take the quiz
Name That Thing
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

Take the quiz
SCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® Sprint

SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!

Play the game