Meaning

2 senses

  1. Something (or someone) that is inferior to the best (but better than other alternatives).

  2. A situation where one or more optimality conditions cannot be satisfied.

More definitions
  • the competitor who finishes second

Examples

20 sentences

  1. I don't want to settle for second best.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. Tom must choose the second-best policy according to the circumstances.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. Tom was the second-best hitter on the team.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. Tom is the second-best hitter on the team.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. My friend bought the second-best bicycle in the shop.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Forms

plural: second bests

Synonyms

1 synonyms
Close in meaning

Word family

2 related words
Relatedthird bestfirst loser

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
secondA1secondaryB2secondhand

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

second best — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto