From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthird-rateˌthird-ˈrate adjective CHEAPof very bad quality a third-rate hotel
Examples from the Corpus
third-rate• Those who dismissed him as a third-rate actor failed to recognize his ability as a political campaigner.• They were being overcharged for third-rate beer, much of it brewed from cheap and inferior ingredients.• a third-rate business school• Save for the metal detector and federal guards in the lobby, the place could easily pass for a third-rate collection agency.• If I'd ever done anything - made anything of myself more than a third-rate free-lance - it might've been different.• His only modest joy in life comes from playing trombone with a third-rate jazz band in a seedy neighborhood pub. 