second best

sec·ond best

S s

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [sek-uh nd best]
- /ˈsɛk ənd bɛst/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [sek-uh nd best]
- /ˈsɛk ənd bɛst/

Definitions of second best words

noun second best the next to the best in performance, achievement, craftsmanship, etc. 1
adjective second best Second best is used to describe something that is not as good as the best thing of its kind but is better than all the other things of that kind. 0
adjective second best You can use second best to describe something that you have to accept even though you would have preferred something else. 0
adjective second best Second best is also a noun. 0
noun second best an inferior alternative 0
adjective second best not as good as the best thing of its kind but better than all the other things of that kind 0

See all 9 definitions of second best

Information block about the term

Origin of second best

First appearance:

before 1400

One of the 24% oldest English words

late Middle English word dating back to 1400-50

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Second best

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Second best

second best popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 42% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 61% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

second best usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer