sixth-rate

adjective

Of a Royal Navy warship in the Napoleonic Era: having 20–28 guns on one gun deck, a complement of 140–200, and weighing 340–550 tons burthen.

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Meanings

adjectivesixth-rate (not comparable)

alternative sixth rate

  1. UKhistoricalnot comparablegovernmentOf a Royal Navy warship in the Napoleonic Era: having 20–28 guns on one gun deck, a complement of 140–200, and weighing 340–550 tons burthen.

    The Navy classified warships by their number of cannons, and with twenty-eight, she was a sixth-rate–the lowest rank.

    2023, David Grann, chapter 1, in The Wager, Doubleday
  2. idiomaticnot comparableuncommonTerrible, awful; less than fifth-rate.

    Synonyms: dismal, horrible, rubbish, abysmal, atrocious, awful, bad, chronic

nounsixth-rate (plural sixth-rates)

plural sixth-rates · alternative sixth rate

  1. UKhistoricalgovernmentA sixth-rate warship.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveTerrible, awful; less than fifth-rate.

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dismalhorriblerubbishabysmalatrociousawfulbadchroniccoarsecornycrapcrapaliciouscrappycrummydeityforsakendiredisagreeabledismaldogshitdreadful
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Cite this entry
APA

sixth-rate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sixth-rate

MLA

“sixth-rate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sixth-rate. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sixth-rate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sixth-rate.

Source: sixth-rate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.