Standard Lemma guide

first-rate

adj · noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F ER2 S T R EY1 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of a Royal Navy ship of the line in the Napoleonic Era: having at least 100 guns across three gun decks, a complement of 850–875, and weighing approximately 2,500 tons burthen.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, historical, not-comparable

Topics: government, military, nautical, politics, transport, war

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Superb, exceptional; of the best sort; very high quality.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: amazing, magnificent, splendid, ace, admirable, awe-inspiring, awesome, badass, bang on, bang-up, studly, based, beatific, beneship, bitching, blissful, bomb, brilliant, bully, celestial, cher, choice, chronic, chur, cock on, commendable, cool, copacetic, crackerjack, cushty, dank, def, delightful, divine, dope, epic, excellent, exceptional, exemplary, exquisite, extraordinary, fab, fabulous, fantabulosa, fantastic, fierce, finger-lickin' good, fire, fireball, first-rate, fly, frabjous, glorious, gnarly, goated, great, grouse, heavenlike, heavenly, immaculate, impeccable, incredible, kick-ass, kicking, killer, lash, lautitious, lit, marvelous, nang, outstanding, out of sight, phat, peak, peng, phenomenal, pog, poggers, priceless, pukka, quality, rad, radical, remarkable, rum, sensational, sick, slap-up, slick, spectacular, spiffing, spot on, stellar, sterling, stunning, super, superb, superior, sweet, swell, terrific, tight, top, top-drawer, top-hole, top-notch, top-of-the-range, top-shelf, topping, tubular, tuff, well-done, wicked, wicked pissah, wonderful, worldie

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A first-rate ship of the line.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, historical

Topics: government, military, nautical, politics, transport, war

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

of the highest quality

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an ace reporter
  • a crack shot
  • a first-rate golfer
  • a super party
  • played top-notch tennis
  • an athlete in tiptop condition
  • she is absolutely tops

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ace, A-one, crack, super, tiptop, topnotch, top-notch, tops(p)

Antonyms: none provided

5

adverb

Meaning 5

quite well

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • she doesn't feel first-rate today

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: very well

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Belarusian: файны (fajny) — superb, exceptional
  • Belarusian: першакласны (pjeršaklasny) — superb, exceptional
  • Bulgarian: първокачествен (pǎrvokačestven) — superb, exceptional
  • Chinese Mandarin: 最佳 (zuìjiā) — superb, exceptional
  • Chinese Mandarin: 一流 — superb, exceptional
  • Chinese Mandarin: 頂呱呱 /顶呱呱 (dǐngguāguā) — superb, exceptional
  • Chinese Mandarin: 頭等 /头等 (tóuděng) — superb, exceptional
  • Czech: prvotřídní — superb, exceptional
  • Finnish: erinomainen — superb, exceptional
  • French: de premier choix — superb, exceptional
  • German: erstklassig — superb, exceptional
  • German: erstrangig — superb, exceptional
  • Hungarian: elsőrangú — superb, exceptional
  • Hungarian: első osztályú — superb, exceptional
  • Irish: diail — superb, exceptional
  • Japanese: 一流の (ichiryū no) — superb, exceptional
  • Latin: prīmārius — superb, exceptional
  • Macedonian: прво́класен (prvóklasen) — superb, exceptional
  • Polish: pierwszorzędny — superb, exceptional
  • Portuguese: de primeira classe — superb, exceptional
  • Russian: первокла́ссный (pervoklássnyj) — superb, exceptional
  • Russian: первосо́ртный (pervosórtnyj) — superb, exceptional
  • Russian: перворазря́дный (pervorazrjádnyj) — superb, exceptional
  • Spanish: de primera — superb, exceptional
  • Spanish: excelente — superb, exceptional
  • Ukrainian: першокла́сний (peršoklásnyj) — superb, exceptional
  • Ukrainian: першосо́ртний (peršosórtnyj) — superb, exceptional