1
as in decent
of average to below average quality
a second-rate song from a songwriter who has done much better
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in inferior
of little or less value or merit
a second-rate company that was never considered among the top manufacturers of televisions
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in cheap
of low quality
second-rate goods specifically manufactured for the low end of the market
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of second-rate
The occasion: a second-rate literary award ceremony.
—
Dwight Garner, New York Times, 24 Mar. 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
But today, restaurants in Sicily, Malta, Greece, Spain and Croatia mostly serve second-rate tuna, the yellowfin variety that comes from the Pacific or southern Atlantic.
—Julia Amberger, Nanni Fontana, Marzio Mian, & Nicola Scevola (tr. Elettra Pauletto), The Dial, 3 Apr. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for second-rate
Dwight Garner, New York Times, 24 Mar. 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
But today, restaurants in Sicily, Malta, Greece, Spain and Croatia mostly serve second-rate tuna, the yellowfin variety that comes from the Pacific or southern Atlantic.
—Julia Amberger, Nanni Fontana, Marzio Mian, & Nicola Scevola (tr. Elettra Pauletto), The Dial, 3 Apr. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for second-rate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for second-rate
Adjective
-
Edwards landed a decent percentage of his strikes at 66 percent, but the pressure from Muhammad limited his attempts to just 71 significant strikes.—
Trent Reinsmith,
Forbes.com,
4 May 2025
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And even after the outings that are just decent, the Phillies can see it.—
Matt Gelb,
New York Times,
3 May 2025
Adjective
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Robbins: Is the East an inferior conference compared to the West?—
Eric Koreen,
New York Times,
14 May 2025
-
Before and after each game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr has talked about how Golden State has to play with pace, execute the gameplan defensively and win the possession battle — basically, all of the controllables that an inferior team in a matchup has to execute in order to pull off an upset.—
Jace Frederick,
Twin Cities,
13 May 2025
Adjective
-
Tesla troubles: Amid tough year, Tesla releases a new, cheaper version of the Model Y Is the 2025 Tesla Model Y a good SUV to get?—
Charles Singh,
USA Today,
10 May 2025
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High energy costs overall are due to a number of factors, including inefficiencies, losses, theft, inflation, and quirks of long-term contracts that result in the utility paying for more expensive power sources even when cheaper ones are available.—
Christine Ro,
Forbes.com,
9 May 2025
Adjective
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The delay should also have a beneficial effect on EA, which has struggled in the stock market due to mediocre business in its EA Sports FC 25 game, the soccer title previously published with the FIFA name.—
Brendan Coffey,
Sportico.com,
2 May 2025
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If not, this big-screen gaming laptop has come to save you from mediocre gaming with its powerful GPU and heroic cape of RGB backlighting.—
Jade Chung-Lee,
PC Magazine,
1 May 2025
Adjective
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In some cases, lawyers said students had their legal statuses altered for minor traffic violations, such as unpaid parking tickets.—
Zachary Schermele,
USA Today,
16 May 2025
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Nina and Jim are forced to work overtime to re-center key story components that get lost amid more minor twists and turns.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
15 May 2025
Adjective
-
Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns each added 23 points and OG Anunoby bounced back from two poor performances by scoring 20 for the Knicks, who can win the series Wednesday night at Boston.—
Brian Mahoney,
Baltimore Sun,
13 May 2025
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Boston built big second-half leads on New York in both Games 1 and 2 at home, but squandered them due to uncharacteristically poor 3-point shooting.—
Tyler Everett,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 May 2025
Adjective
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The Air Quality Index (AQI), developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), measures air pollution on a scale from 0 to 500: 0-50 (Green): Good—air quality is satisfactory.—
Joe Edwards,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 May 2025
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In finding the right fit and tailoring these systems, a clear understanding of your business priorities and pain points can go a long way in choosing a satisfactory solution.—
Shiv Kaushik,
Forbes.com,
25 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
By 2021, the mean age of France’s 56 reactors was 36.1 years.—
Daniel Markind,
Forbes.com,
9 May 2025
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Right after, Order 66 kicks off with Anakin (now Darth Vader) murdering Jocasta Nu (the mean Jedi library lady) in cold blood.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
5 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Second-rate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/second-rate. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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