second-rate
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.02 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of a Royal Navy ship of the line in the Napoleonic Era: having 80–98 guns across three gun decks, a complement of 700–750, and weighing approximately 2,200 tons burthen.
British usage
adj
Of mediocre quality; not first-rate.
Example Sentences
- "‘Revelation’, to a philosopher such as Plotinus, was not merely irrational: it led to second-rate counterfeits of traditional academic philosophical culture. It was as if the inhabitants of an underdeveloped country were to seek to catch up with western technology by claiming to have learnt nuclear physics through dreams and oracles."
- "They are intrigued by Mrs Deelville; she is dowdy, languid-voiced, and ill-dressed, in every way appearing second-rate, who nonetheless - rather tiresomely - seems to have the knack of attracting men."
Usage
- British usage