third-rate
Americanadjective
-
of the third rate, quality, or class.
-
distinctly inferior.
a third-rate performance.
adjective
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Other Word Forms
- third-rater noun
Etymology
Origin of third-rate
First recorded in 1640–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Maybe Russia now looks like what DeSantis called a “third-rate military power” because Western arms and intelligence helped Ukrainian forces decimate the Russian military, destroying perhaps half of its tanks.
From Washington Post
It didn't buy textbooks or strengthen our third-rate grid in this electricity-dependent Digital Age.
From Salon
“I feel like a third-rate citizen, despite working here and paying taxes with my partner and living here, and contributing to the past year of struggle with the pandemic,” she said.
From Seattle Times
But she has languished as a poor man’s Sarah Palin and a third-rate Josh Hawley, as others seize the spotlight with superior antics.
From Washington Post
She calls one of her accusers “the Cabbage” and refers to another not by name but as the wife of a third-rate glazier.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
