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Glite Dictionary
third-rater

third-rater

9.2
A person or thing of low quality that people think is not good
  • noun
  • /ˈθɜrdˌreɪtər/
  • Informal
translation icon : de tercera categoría
  • Before evaluating the parallel forms reliability, we examined the interrater agreement by having a third rater independently score 15 randomly selected story retells (18%).

Examples

  • His third-rater ideas during the meeting did not contribute anything valuable to the project's progress.

  • A third rater was one of the AIM facilitators who reviewed the ratings and suggested modifications.

    Academic text (2013)

  • Before examining validity evidence, we examined the reliability of the scores for this sample by having a third rater independently score 15 randomly selected story retells (19.6%).

    Academic text (2013)

  • Many critics dismissed the film as a product of third-rater talent, lacking originality and depth.

  • The competition featured entries from many first-rate artists, but some third-raters failed to impress the judges.

Synonyms

inferior
vsthird-rater
  • Offensive
4 5.9

A person who has lower rank or status than others

refers specifically to poor quality rather than lower rank or status
second-rater
vsthird-rater
  • Offensive
1 8.2

A person who is not as good as others at their work

means distinctly poor in quality rather than merely average or mediocre
subgrade
vsthird-rater
  • Offensive
8.4

A person or thing of lower quality than normal

is a stronger label for clearly poor, lowest quality rather than just low standard

Antonyms

first-rater
  • Neologism
7.5

A person or thing of very high quality

How Good

expert
∞ 3.2
mediocrity
4 6.4
third-rater
  • Informal
9.2

Surface Forms

third-rater singular
third-raters plural

Morphology

third-rater = third-rate (transparent) = third + rate + er

The noun is transparently derived from the adjective 'third-rate' by the productive suffix '-er' meaning 'one characterized by'.

Etymology

Third-rater comes from the idea of ranking quality: third (the number three) plus rate meaning 'rank' or 'level'. Because 'first-rate' means excellent and 'second-rate' means not so good, a third-rater is someone or something of poor or low quality.