third-rate
Americanadjective
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of the third rate, quality, or class.
-
distinctly inferior.
a third-rate performance.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of third-rate
First recorded in 1640–50
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.
For investors, the narrow decision sets up a potential third-rate rise this year at the Australian central bank’s next board meeting in May.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
The RCS review was "an appalling indictment" of a "third-rate" breast clinic service, according to Prof Fentiman.
From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2025
With Doug Sahm, Augie Meyers and fellow Tejano chingón Freddy Fender, Jiménez formed the Texas Tornadoes, whose oeuvre blasts at every third-rate barbecue joint from the Texas Hill Country to Southern California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2025
"I kind of ditched them. I started listening to what A&R or the record labels felt they had slots for. I was called a third-rate Pat Benatar. I was probably a fifth-rate Pat Benatar."
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2025
“They told me he was a third-rate hedge fund guy who didn’t know what he was talking about.”
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
