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Glite Dictionary
second best

second best

8 1.8
A person or team that finishes second in a competition
  • noun
translation icon : segundo mejor
  • It was a tough competition, but she finished as the second best in her class.

One thing I laugh is watching or watch the Royce Gracie fight and he beat the second best in the world using basic white belt movements.

Examples

  • Bobby Fischer is the second best chess player I've ever seen.

  • None of this is to say that we should be content with second best.

    Blog text (30)

  • Are they complete in being the second best team in the NFL?

    Blog text (7)

  • I don't think he is far from being the second best center in the league.

    Blog text (24)

  • The second best player in terms of scoring chances per minute is Player B with a value of 0.33.

    Academic text (1994)

  • The Texans and Falcons are the first and second best teams in the league, respectively.

    Blog text (30)

  • Bobby Fischer is the second best chess player I've ever seen.

    Pawn Sacrifice (2015)

  • McCann's defensive line is the second best so far, driven mostly by 16 framing runs.

    Blog text (16)

  • But most impressively, Teo has six interceptions, which is second best in the nation.

    Blog text (28)

  • After a close race, the team celebrated their second best finish in the tournament.

Synonyms

runner-up
vssecond best
47 2.7

A person or team that finishes second in an event

is the neutral term for the competitor who finishes second
first loser
vssecond best
  • Informal
1 7.9

A person or team that finishes second in a competition

is the neutral phrase for the competitor finishing second

Antonyms

winner
∞ 1.0

A person or team that beats others in a competition

first place
343 2.1

The top position in a competition or race

How High-Ranked

champion
600 2.4
second best
8 1.8
midweight
  • Jargon
4.9
last
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

second best singular
second bests plural

Morphology

second + best

The meaning 'the person or team finishing in second place' is directly inferable from combining 'second' (coming after first) with 'best' (the top), yielding 'the next-best' or runner-up. This ordinal + superlative/quality composition is a common, cross-linguistically transparent pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand the expression.

Etymology

Second best comes from competitions where the best is the winner and the second is right behind them. So someone who is second best is the person who finishes in 'second place', often winning a silver medal.