Standard Lemma guide

second-class

adj · 3 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

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adj

Meaning 1

Of a standard or grade one level below the best.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Qualifier: neutral or mildly positive connotation

Examples

a second-class train ticket, second-class postage, a second-class honours degree

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

adj

Meaning 2

Inferior in quality or standing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Qualifier: negative connotation

Examples

He complained he felt like a second-class citizen, but everyone felt put upon that day.
Using second-class parts for the repair was false economy because they soon broke and had to be fixed again.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: second-rate

Antonyms: none provided

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

of inferior status or quality

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

a second-class citizen
second-class accommodations

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

Dutch: tweedeklas — inferior in quality or standing
Finnish: toisen luokan — inferior in quality or standing
French: de seconde zone — inferior in quality or standing
French: de second ordre — inferior in quality or standing
German: zweiter Klasse — inferior in quality or standing
German: zweitklassig — inferior in quality or standing
Hungarian: másodosztályú — inferior in quality or standing
Italian: di serie B — inferior in quality or standing
Latin: secundārius — inferior in quality or standing
Norwegian Bokmål: annenklasses — inferior in quality or standing
Norwegian Bokmål: annenrangs — inferior in quality or standing

Word forms

Inflections and variants

No separate word forms were provided.

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: second-class citizen, second-class entity, second-class object, second-class value

Related: first-class, third-class, inferior

Semantic map

Other relationships

Sources

Where this information comes from

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Real reading context

Examples

Meaning relationships

Examples

Meaning relationships

Examples

Meaning relationships

second-class in complete knowledge articles