secondhand
Americanadjective
-
not directly known or experienced; obtained from others or from books.
Most of our knowledge is secondhand.
-
previously used or owned.
secondhand clothes.
-
dealing in previously used goods.
a secondhand bookseller.
adverb
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after another user or owner.
He bought it secondhand.
-
indirectly; at second hand.
He heard the news secondhand.
Other Word Forms
- secondhandedness noun
Etymology
Origin of secondhand
Explanation
Anything that's secondhand has been used before. Your secondhand boots may look brand new, but they were owned by someone else before you bought them. Things that aren't new are secondhand, so you might buy a secondhand car from your grandma or shop at a secondhand clothing store to get good deals. You can also use this adjective to mean "not from an original or primary source." If your sister tells you that her best friend told her that he saw a famous movie star at the coffee shop, that's secondhand information.
Vocabulary lists containing secondhand
Idioms and Expressions, List 3
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Baseball in April
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Idioms and Expressions, List 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Purchase imperfect secondhand garden furniture where you can sit and drink tea and read an imperfectly wonderful book by your favorite author.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 17, 2026
At the same time, I did have secondhand embarrassment watching DeChambeau strut around Augusta National in LIV-issue Crushers gear that made him look like the fry guy at a discount burger chain.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
With secondhand shopping on the rise, one L.A. store has carved out a niche by helping influencers sell their surplus clothes.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026
Online, the secondhand market is flourishing too, led by Xianyu, the Alibaba-owned answer to eBay with more than 600 million users, and Zhuanzhuan, a Tencent-backed resale platform known mainly for electronics.
From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026
Ivy’s own secondhand clothes felt sticky from her being awake all night.
From "Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World" by Ashley Herring Blake
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
