Meanings
- not comparableneutral or mildly positive connotationOf a standard or grade one level below the best.
a second-class train ticket, second-class postage, a second-class honours degree
- not comparablenegative connotationInferior in quality or standing.
He complained he felt like a second-class citizen, but everyone felt put upon that day.
1 more example
Using second-class parts for the repair was false economy because they soon broke and had to be fixed again.
Synonyms: second-rate
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveInferior in quality or standing.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveof inferior status or quality
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Dutch tweedeklas
- tweedeklasinferior in quality or standing
Finnish toisen luokan
- toisen luokaninferior in quality or standing
French de seconde zone, de second ordre
- de seconde zoneinferior in quality or standing
- de second ordreinferior in quality or standing
German zweiter Klasse, zweitklassig
- zweiter Klasseinferior in quality or standing
- zweitklassiginferior in quality or standing
Hungarian másodosztályú
- másodosztályúinferior in quality or standing
Italian di serie B
- di serie Binferior in quality or standing
Latin secundārius
- secundāriusinferior in quality or standing
Norwegian Bokmål annenklasses, annenrangs
- annenklassesinferior in quality or standing
- annenrangsinferior in quality or standing
Cite this entry
second-class. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/second-class
“second-class.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/second-class. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “second-class,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/second-class.
Source: second-class on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.