If someone treats you as a second-class citizen, they treat you as if you are less valuable and less important than other people.
Too many airlines treat our children as second-class citizens.
Synonyms: inferior, lesser, second-best, unimportant More Synonyms of second class
2. adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
If you describe something as second-class, you mean that it is of poor quality.
It is unacceptable for any children to have to settle for a second-class education.
3. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
The second-class accommodation on a train or ship is the ordinary accommodation, which is cheaper and less comfortable than the first-class accommodation.
He sat in the corner of a second-class carriage.
Seven second-class passengers prepared to disembark.
...a second-class ticket.
Second class is also an adverb.
I recently travelled second class from Pisa to Ventimiglia.
Second-class is second-class accommodation on a train or ship.
In second class the fare is £85 one-way.
4. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
In Britain, second-class postage is the slower and cheaper type of postage. In the United States, second-class postage is the type of postage that is used for sending newspapers and magazines.
...a second-class stamp.
...second class letters.
Second class is also an adverb.
They're going to send it second class.
5. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
In Britain, a second-class degree is a good university degree, but not as good as a first-class degree.
A second-class honours degree is the minimum requirement.
More Synonyms of second class
second class in British English
noun
1.
the class or grade next in value, quality, etc, to the first
adjective
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 second1 (sense 10)
adverb
7.
by second-class mail, transport, etc
second-class in British English
(ˌsɛkəndˈklɑːs)
adjective
1.
cheaper than first class
He sat in the corner of a second-class carriage.
a second-class ticket
2.
(of a passenger) travelling on a second-class ticket
Seven second-class passengers prepared to disembark.
3.
inferior; shoddy
a second-class education
4. British
relating to mail that is processed more slowly than first-class mail
a second-class stamp
second class letters
noun
5.
second-class accommodation on a train or ship
In second class the fare is £ 85 one-way.
second-class in American English
(ˈsɛkəndˈklæs; ˈsɛkəndˈklɑs)
adjective
1.
of the class, rank, excellence, etc. next below the highest; of secondary quality
2.
designating or of accommodations next below the best
a second-class railway carriage
3. US
designating or of a class of mail consisting of newspapers, periodicals, etc.: such mail carries lower postage rates than first-class mail
4.
a.
inferior, inadequate, etc.
b.
lacking or denied full rights, privileges, etc.
a second-class citizen
adverb
5.
with accommodations next below the best
to travel second-class
6.
as or by second-class mail
Examples of 'second class' in a sentence
second class
A second class train fare is about €100.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The bunks (both in first and second class) are comfortable and of a good size.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Why have the number of upper second class and first-class degrees increased exponentially in the last 15 years?
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Regulation needs to be relaxed except for fixing the price of a second-class stamp.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
My companions in the second-class carriage are lost in thought.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
They should not have to be "second-class" citizens.
Christianity Today (2000)
The specification for second-class mail remains to deliver it within three working days after posting.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Pay minimal office costs and a second-class return ticket once a week to the constituency.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
They make it easy for their partners to treat them as second-class citizens.
Mansfield, Patricia Why Am I Afraid to be Assertive? (1994)
They become second-class citizens and injustice follows.
Davey, Ray Rev. & Cole, John A Channel of Peace (1993)
Another myth this exhibition will help to dispel is that women were second-class citizens.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
They used to be seen as the second-class citizens of the motoring world and an afterthought when you went to a car show.
The Sun (2008)
The 100 second-class stamps had to be used first.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Book into first or second-class air-conditioned carriages unless you are feeling intrepid.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
But it is more than a second-class season ticket to Moon.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
It's not as if second-class stamps are a bargain.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
A technical or vocational education has always been seen as a second-class education in Britain.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The regulator said that it planned to keep a price cap only on the cost of second-class mail to keep stamps affordable for the less well-off.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
To cap it all, they will return your driving licence to you only via unrecorded second-class post and will not accept any responsibility should it go missing.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In other languages
second-class
British English: second-class /ˈsɛkəndˌklɑːs/ ADJECTIVE
Second-class things are regarded as less valuable or less important than others of the same kind.