Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

third-rate

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.92 in modern English

Syllables: third-rate
IPA

13

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of a Royal Navy ship of the line in the Napoleonic Era: having 64–80 guns across two gun decks, a complement of 500–650, and weighing approximately 1,750 tons burthen.

British usage

adj

Poor, shoddy; less than second-rate.

noun

A third-rate ship of the line.

British usage

Example Sentences

"He was smoking a cherry-wood pipe, and looked on the whole as if he had borrowed his outfit from the wardrobe of a third-rate dramatic company."
"I consider it to now be a third-rate service run without any excuses being offered."

Usage

British usage

Inflected Forms

third rate (alternative) third-rates (plural)

Phrases

fifth-rate first-rate fourth-rate second-rate sixth-rate two-decker

Frequently Paired Words

fifth-rate first-rate fourth-rate second-rate sixth-rate two-decker

Synonyms

bad lousy third-class ass base below par bottom-shelf BTEC bum cheap cheap and nasty cheapshit

Questions

What does third-rate mean?: Of a Royal Navy ship of the line in the Napoleonic Era: having 64–80 guns across two gun decks, a complement of 500–650, and weighing approximately 1,750 tons burthen.

How to pronounce third-rate

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