third-rate

1. 1.

   of lesser quality than second-rate

   Similarinferior

Questions about third-rate

What does third-rate mean?

third-rate means "of lesser quality than second-rate".

How many syllables are in third-rate?

third-rate has 2 syllables: thir-d-rate. The stress falls on "thir".

Is third-rate a common word?

third-rate is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.