second-class

Ads

Bankruptcy: Second Course www.affordablebankruptcycourses.com/2nd Only $19 Debtor Education Online. Fast & Easy - Start 2nd Course Now!

Dictionary.com's Mobile Apps www.dictionary.com/mobile Ad-Free, Offline Content, Audio Pronunciation and More! Take Millions of Words With You Everywhere. Download Now!

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. Compare cabin class.

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

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

Origin:
1830–40

Dictionary.com Unabridged

adjective

of a secondary class or quality.

second-rate; inferior.

adverb

by second-class mail or passenger accommodations: to travel second-class.

Origin:
1830–40

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source

Link To second-class

00:10

Second-class is always a great word to know.

So is lollapalooza. Does it mean:

an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Collins

World English Dictionary

second class

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

—*adj*
2.	of the class or grade next to the best in quality, etc
3.	shoddy or inferior
4.	of or denoting the class of accommodation in a hotel or on a train, etc, lower in quality and price than first class
5.	a. (in Britain) of or relating to mail that is processed more slowly than first-class mail
	b. (in the US and Canada) of or relating to mail that consists mainly of newspapers, etc
6.	education See second

—*adv*
7.	by second-class mail, transport, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

second-class

1837, from second (adj.) + class. Phrase second-class citizen is recorded from 1942.

Matching Quote

"At no previous period has mankind been faced by a half-century which so paradoxically united violence and progress. Its greater and lesser wars and long series of major assassinations have been strangely combined with the liberation of more societies and individuals than ever before in history, and by the transformation of millions of second-class citizens—women, workers and the members of subject races—to a stage at which first-rate achievement is no longer inhibited even if opportunities are not yet complete."

-Vera Brittain

Enjoy Dictionary.com ad-free! Learn more

Related Words

second-class citizen

second-class

second class

sec·ond-class