third-rate
17
4.7
- adjective
- /ˈθɜrd reɪt/
- Informal
:
de tercera
- That restaurant is known for its third-rate service and terrible food.
- second- and third-rate
They invade third rate country, third rate power Iraq.
- They invade third rate country, third rate power Iraq.
- There must be something there because you wouldn't make up this stuff about somebody who is just, you know, third rate and didn't have anything to offer.
- Back then, Audi was a mediocre third rate luxury car brand struggling to gain traction against BMW and Mercedes, who were the big German luxury players.
Examples
-
"I lecture, take a few classes, do a little research, and write a third-rate paper every now and then.
Fiction book (1997) -
And on the other hand, we have second-rate and even third-rate universities which produce graduates.
Blog text (1) -
Your trouble, Jimmy, is your totally third-rate mind...
Fiction book (2002) -
A minor planet in a third-rate galaxy.
-
When these guys start seriously thinking about playing for a third-rate loser, they get cold feet and go elsewhere.
Blog text (4) -
A third rate village.
-
I have never acted in shabby, third-rate plays.
-
We're talking about a third-rate CIA agent who had a government salary, and now she's out.
-
Fortunately, the experience demonstrated quite clearly that I'd never be any more than a third-rate physicist, if that.
Fiction book (1999) -
Well, that's funny, because Mr. and Mrs. Owen look like third-rate stock-photography models to me.
Synonyms
63
3.7
Not as good in quality as something else
27
4.4
Not as good as the usual or required quality
23
4.4
Not as good as the best, often cheap or simple
15
4.5
Not as good as people expect
11
4.4
Not very good and worth less than similar things
4
5.6
Less good than the best choice
1
6.6
Very poor quality and not good enough
1
6.8
Very low quality and not good enough
It is of very low quality compared with similar things
Antonyms
How Bad
Surface Forms
Morphology
third-rate = third + rate (semi-transparent) = third + rate
The components 'third' and 'rate' are identifiable, but the idiomatic evaluative meaning 'inferior' (i.e., of low rank or quality) is a conventionalized sense not strictly predictable from literal combination.
Etymology
Third-rate comes from an old way of ranking things as first, second, and third, where rate meant 'rank' or 'level' and people used it for ships and goods to show quality. So a third-rate thing was a lower class item, which is why today it means 'very poor' or low quality.