From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsecond-rateˌsecond-ˈrate adjective [usually before noun] BAD ATnot of the very best standard or quality → first-rate a second-rate artist
Examples from the Corpus
second-rate• A second-rate actor, she thought.• a second-rate author• We continue to be second-rate citizens-no, third-rate, since our sons come be-fore us.• This time they are peddling water-filters, but the product is a second-rate consideration. 