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• second class
  second class

  noun

  the class of travel accommodations, as on a train, that are less costly and luxurious than first class but are more costly and luxurious than third class.
• second-class
  second-class

  adjective

  of a secondary class or quality.

second class

¹ American  

noun

• second classes
  plural

1. the class of travel accommodations, as on a train, that are less costly and luxurious than first class but are more costly and luxurious than third class.

2. (in the U.S. Postal Service) the class of mail consisting of newspapers and periodicals not sealed against postal inspection.

3. the second of three honors degrees conferred by a British university.

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second-class ² American  

[sek-uhnd-klas, -klahs] / ˈsɛk əndˈklæs, -ˈklɑs /

adjective

1. of a secondary class or quality.

2. second-rate; inferior.

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adverb

1. by second-class mail or passenger accommodations.

   to travel second-class.

second class British  

noun

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

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adjective

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

2. shoddy or inferior

3. of or denoting the class of accommodation in a hotel or on a train, etc, lower in quality and price than first class

4. 1. (in Britain) of or relating to mail that is processed more slowly than first-class mail

   2. (in the US and Canada) of or relating to mail that consists mainly of newspapers, etc

5. education See second 1

adverb

1. by second-class mail, transport, etc

second class Idioms  

1. Inferior; see second best .

2. Travel accommodations ranking below the highest or first class, as in Traveling second class on European trains is not only cheaper but gives you more contact with local people . [c. 1840]

3. In the United States and Canada, a category of mail consisting of periodicals and newspapers. [c. 1870]

4. second-class citizen . An individual regarded or treated as inferior to others in status or rights, an underprivileged person. For example, In many countries women still are considered second-class citizens . This term uses second class in the sense of “inferior.” [c. 1940]

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• second classes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of second class¹

First recorded in 1830–40

Origin of second-class²

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

second class second-class

Your first-class ticket could soon be second class as U.S. airlines add to their dizzying roster of seating options.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

That year, 76.9% of first class letters and 92.2% of second class letters were delivered on time.

From BBC ● May 29, 2026

It has also agreed a plan with Ofcom to scrap second class delivery on Saturdays as part of its new model.

From BBC ● May 29, 2026

A first class stamp now costs £1.80 - an increase of 10p - while a second class letter has risen by 4p to 91p.

From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026

They came up in a small dining room meant for crew members, and then George led everyone down a long second class corridor, up the grand staircase, and finally out onto the crowded boat deck.

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

The company and its followers have long chafed at their second-class status, and last week’s iPhone unveiling reignited the resentments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Anthropologist Anastasia Piliavsky, part of a group called Ukrainian Cosmopolis which aims to defend freedom of thought and speech, believes Russian-speakers are being made to feel like second-class citizens who are deprived of their heritage.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

But Glenn and other devotees of factory-built housing hope to use the spotlight on recovery to show a still-skeptical public that prefab doesn’t mean second-class.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

It was at a few after-hours music jam sessions with his co-workers that they got to talking about how in the world of AI audio had become “a second-class citizen.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026

Papa bought tickets on a second-class train, Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México.

From "The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child" by Francisco Jiménez