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Glite Dictionary
first-rate education

first-rate education

1 3.7
A high quality school or university training that gives strong knowledge and skills
  • noun
  • /ˈfɜrst reɪt ˌɛdʒʊˈkeɪʃən/
translation icon : educación de primera
  • The main problem is still, how do we get a first-rate education for each and every child?

I mean, he came from, you know, from nothing, you know, and built himself up to having a first rate education through working hard.

Examples

  • I am assuming here that you've already taught the little bugger that a first-rate education is the ticket to whatever wonderful life you can dream of or desire.

    Blog text (13)

  • We want to emphasize, however, that we believe that the arts are an important component of a first-rate education.

    Academic text (2004)

  • I mean, he came from, you know, from nothing, you know, and built himself up to having a first rate education through working hard.

    Rich Roll

  • I believe that every child can learn and succeed, and that every child should receive a first-rate education.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Anybody now around the world, if you are getting a first rate education in the humanities, you know something about Kant, Hegel, marks, Nietzsche.

  • But her parents were salt-of-the-earth, working-class people who had denied themselves many pleasures in order to give her a first-rate education, and they wanted nothing but the best for her.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Every child deserves access to a first-rate education that prepares them for success in life.

  • The school's commitment to excellence ensures that every student receives a first-rate education.

  • Parents often sacrifice to ensure their kids have a first-rate education that opens doors to future opportunities.

Antonyms

poor
838 1.0

Not good enough in quality or amount

substandard
27 4.4

Not as good as the usual or required quality

How Good

first-rate education
1 3.7
poor
838 1.0

Surface Forms

first-rate education singular
first-rate educations plural

Morphology

first-rate + education

The overall meaning is partly derivable: 'first' suggests top/primary and 'rate' can indicate a class or quality, so a learner could plausibly infer 'top-quality education'. However, 'rate' is polysemous (often 'speed' or 'price') and 'first-rate' functions as a fixed evaluative compound, so the precise sense may not be fully predictable for an average B1 learner without prior exposure.

Etymology

First-rate education uses first-rate to mean top quality. One popular story says it comes from old big ships, where the biggest, strongest ship was called 'first-rate', so the phrase came to mean 'the very best'. So first-rate education means an education of 'the highest quality'.