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• third class
  third class

  noun

  the class, grade, or rank immediately below the second.
• third-class
  third-class

  adjective

  of the lowest or poorest class or quality; inferior.

third class

¹ American  

noun

• third classes
  plural

1. the class, grade, or rank immediately below the second.

2. the least costly class of accommodations on trains, in hotels, etc.

3. (in the U.S. Postal Service) the class of mail consisting of merchandise weighing up to 16 ounces, and written or printed material, as books, manuscripts, or circulars, not sealed against postal inspection.

4. the lowest of three honors degrees conferred by a British university.

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third-class ² American  

[thurd-klas, -klahs] / ˈθɜrdˈklæs, -ˈklɑs /

adjective

1. of the lowest or poorest class or quality; inferior.

2. least costly and luxurious.

   a third-class coach.

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adverb

1. by third-class mail or passenger accommodations.

   to travel third-class.

third class British  

noun

1. the class or grade next in value, quality, etc, to the second

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adjective

1. of the class or grade next in value, quality, etc, to the second

2. of or denoting the class of accommodation in a hotel, on a ship, etc, next in quality and price to the second: usually the cheapest

3. (in the US and Canada) of or relating to a class of mail consisting largely of unsealed printed matter

4. See third

adverb

1. by third-class mail, transport, etc

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• third classes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of third class¹

First recorded in 1835–45

Origin of third-class²

First recorded in 1830–40

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

third class third-class

The meeting of water and plastic creates a third class of molecules called reactive oxygen species.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

By the third class, I had established an unspoken understanding with the clay.

From Salon ● May 25, 2025

But on Thursday, officials announced that they had used advanced forensic technology to identify one of them as David Walker, a 19-year-old mess attendant third class from Norfolk, Va.

From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2024

First, second and third class travel was provided for conformists, and another section with the same classes for non-conformists.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2023

And just on the other side there was a mob of people standing restlessly, third class passengers from the looks of their worn clothing.

From "I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912" by Lauren Tarshis

At Oxford, Auden, after considering a scientific career, reaffirmed his poetic vocation but graduated only with an unimpressive third-class degree.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

"We are being treated like third-class citizens," said 72-year-old Yiannis Dinas, a sheep breeder from the Greek region of Macedonia.

From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026

“We can’t have world-class buildings on top of a third-class infrastructure,” Ackerman said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2025

A white third-class mug is simple and sturdy, with a bright red White Star logo.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2024

Vera Claythorne, in a third-class carriage with five other travellers in it, leaned her head back and shut her eyes.

From "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie

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