second class
1
3.8
- noun
- /ˈsɛkənd klæs/
:
segunda clase
- By these methods, Hubble completed the Jurisprudence course in the standard two years and received "second class honors" in 1912.
- second class status
Examples
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The airline offers second class tickets, which are cheaper but provide less legroom than first class.
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Now, thanks to the spirit of equality in the air and to the work of many of my more foresighted sisters, I no longer accept society's judgment that my group is second class.
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Accept second class.
Fiction book (1997) -
Well, one reason is the subject of my guest's book, Second Class, How the elites betrayed America's working men and women.
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Nor can it justify its actions by claiming that Chinese citizens voluntarily accede to a second-class status.
Academic text (1990) -
In this second class of nuisance cases, as long as the proprietor is not denied all economic benefit from the property, the regulator is not required to provide compensation.
Academic text (1990) -
According to the DSM-III-R classification, the second class of anxiety disorders—Anxiety States—is characterized by the absence of avoidance behavior as a diagnostic requirement.
Academic text (1991) -
Many citizens believe that they have been treated as second class due to their socioeconomic status.
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Despite the improvements in access, many people feel that individuals with disabilities still face second class treatment in society.
Synonyms
76
3.7
A position in a system that shows rank, like first or second
1
3.5
A position lower than others in a group or at work
Antonyms
How Good
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a lower or second-tier category' is directly derivable from combining 'second' (ordinal indicating the rank after first) with 'class' (a category or quality level). This ordinal + class composition is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern (e.g., Spanish 'segunda clase', French 'seconde classe') and follows standard English usage, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Second class comes from putting people or things into groups by rank, where second and class mean the group just after the top one. So being 'second class' means you are in a lower group or are seen as less important.