1
as in inferior
of little or less value or merit
a playwright who produced only second-class work when he turned his hand to poetry
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in decent
of average to below average quality
it's only a second-class restaurant and not worth the high prices
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of second-class
These are highly competitive guys who, for the most part, don’t like being considered, well, second-class citizens, in a sense.
—
Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 28 Apr. 2026
The question is, will the Court also rule that women deserve full Equal Protection rights on the grounds that no woman should bleed to death in combat as a second-class citizen?
—Wendy Murphy, Boston Herald, 9 Mar. 2026
The days of Southern Black Christians submitting to second-class treatment in the house of the Lord had ended.
—Literary Hub, 4 Mar. 2026
Anne Madarasz, chief historian and director of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at the Heinz History Center, says Woodruff was one of just 18 Black athletes who traveled to Berlin that year to represent a country that, in many ways, still treated them as second-class citizens.
—Christopher Derose, CBS News, 21 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for second-class
Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 28 Apr. 2026
The question is, will the Court also rule that women deserve full Equal Protection rights on the grounds that no woman should bleed to death in combat as a second-class citizen?
—Wendy Murphy, Boston Herald, 9 Mar. 2026
The days of Southern Black Christians submitting to second-class treatment in the house of the Lord had ended.
—Literary Hub, 4 Mar. 2026
Anne Madarasz, chief historian and director of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at the Heinz History Center, says Woodruff was one of just 18 Black athletes who traveled to Berlin that year to represent a country that, in many ways, still treated them as second-class citizens.
—Christopher Derose, CBS News, 21 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for second-class
Recent Examples of Synonyms for second-class
Adjective
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Consumers previously wrote off Chinese goods as inferior, as Chinese manufacturers prioritized quick market entry over original designs.—
Angelica Ang,
Fortune,
9 June 2026
-
Learning how to be the favorite, who plays under the pressure of expectation, instead of how to be the underdog, who plays with the freedom of the unexpected, can make plenty of players vulnerable against an inferior foe at the business end of a tournament.—
Matthew Futterman,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
Adjective
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Unofficial election results show Orange County is on track to have a relatively decent turnout for a non-presidential election primary.—
Kaitlyn Schallhorn,
Oc Register,
10 June 2026
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Wooden piles, Schwartz tells me, used to have a decent lifespan in the harbor because the water was so toxic that even the critters that eat wood couldn’t survive.—
Christopher Bonanos,
Curbed,
10 June 2026
Adjective
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The dog and another dog of theirs that came outside when the woman first opened the door are expected to recover from minor injuries suffered.—
Brie Stimson,
FOXNews.com,
14 June 2026
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OpenAI was reportedly served with a subpoena seeking information about its approach to advertising, consumer and health data, minor and senior users and models, among other activities.—
Ashley Capoot,
CNBC,
13 June 2026
Adjective
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Antimatter is just a form of matter made of particles that have the same mass as ordinary matter, but opposite charges and quantum properties.—
Christopher Karwin,
The Conversation,
8 June 2026
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Obfuscated servers make your VPN traffic look like ordinary HTTPS web traffic.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
8 June 2026
Adjective
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Teams like Haiti, Jordan and Curacao provide pillowy cushions in otherwise mean-spirited, competitive groups.—
Filip Bondy,
New York Daily News,
10 June 2026
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The mean probability of voluntarily quitting one’s job increased to the highest level in more than three years.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
8 June 2026
Adjective
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Throwing a couple of pizzas in the oven and tossing a simple salad will get a satisfactory answer to that question in less than 20 minutes.—
Libby Monteith Minor,
Southern Living,
6 June 2026
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The mayor’s office statement indicates that resolution was satisfactory enough to lead to Yancey’s reinstatement to her high-ranking position.—
Gayla Cawley,
Boston Herald,
3 June 2026
Adjective
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Castelion’s Blackbeard hypersonic system will be launched from Saronic’s Marauder medium unmanned surface vessel, with a demonstration at sea planned for 2027.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
12 June 2026
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For sugar syrup, in a medium saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup, 1/3 cup water, and a pinch salt.—
Katlyn Moncada,
Better Homes & Gardens,
12 June 2026
Adjective
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Hollywood used to pump out movies as mediocre but occasionally charming as The Breadwinner, buoyed by the always-reliable power of seeing a comedy with a packed audience in a theater.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
5 June 2026
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With the serve and backhand so well established, a priority this season has been improving Menšík’s relatively mediocre forehand.—
Charlie Eccleshare,
New York Times,
5 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Second-class.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/second-class. Accessed 15 Jun. 2026.
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