How to Use second-class in a Sentence

second-class

1 of 2 adjective
  • In this sect, women are viewed as second-class and subservient to men.
    — Lauren Lantry, ABC News, 22 June 2023
  • These come in first- and second-class options across all age categories.
    — Lyndsey Matthews, AFAR Media, 2 July 2025
  • The teen has been charged with reckless homicide, a second-class felony, per the update.
    — Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 12 Jan. 2026
  • From this point on, first-class seats are in compartments, while second-class seats are airline-style.
    — Elle Benson Easton, Travel + Leisure, 2 Nov. 2024
  • Girls are not second-class citizens, so why are they being treated that way?
    — Ryan Morik, Fox News, 9 Oct. 2024
  • The Second Amendment is not a second-class right.
    — Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 25 Nov. 2025
  • Someone riding a bus or even walking as a means of transport is viewed as a second-class citizen.
    — U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Mar. 2025
  • Raising girls in a world where women are often treated as second-class citizens isn’t easy.
    — Elizabeth Ayoola, Essence, 13 Mar. 2025
  • To be Arab or Black, even with a French passport, was often to be made to feel second-class.
    — Roger Cohen, BostonGlobe.com, 1 July 2023
  • For 23 years, the rowdy blue agent of chaos lived as a second-class citizen at Disney.
    — Brooks Barnes, New York Times, 2 June 2025
  • The Baptists of Virginia were also held in second-class status.
    — Adam Jortner, The Conversation, 18 Oct. 2024
  • Those cases want women to be drafted, but remain second-class citizens.
    — Wendy Murphy, Boston Herald, 9 Mar. 2026
  • Mother and daughter left home still second-class citizens of a country that had been ruled by white people for three centuries.
    — Ryan Lenora Brown, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 May 2024
  • But to willingly accept second-class status would devastate their brands.
    — Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 11 July 2025
  • But going mostly digital doesn’t make for a second-class experience of these movies.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 6 May 2024
  • Mindanaoans had felt like second-class Filipinos for longer than the country had been independent.
    — Sean Williams, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
  • Women are second-class citizens and must cover their hair and wear loose-fitting clothing in all public spaces.
    — Agustina Vergara Cid, Oc Register, 23 Jan. 2026
  • Women deemed second-class citizens.
    — Teresa Leger Fernández, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
  • Catholic women have long complained of second-class status in an institution that reserves the priesthood for men.
    — Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2025
  • As the latter became emblematic of comfort and success, the former came to be seen as down-market or second-class.
    — Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 30 Apr. 2026
  • First, non-Jewish residents have long been treated as second-class citizens.
    — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 9 Aug. 2024
  • The comedy as a second-class sibling to the drama is a notion that has annoyed the people who make television comedies for years.
    — Joe Reid, Vulture, 7 June 2025
  • No more treating the people who make movies possible as second-class citizens in their own celebration.
    — Clayton Davis, Variety, 17 Dec. 2025
  • This speaks to a broader issue of human rights violations against girls and women who are still treated as second-class citizens.
    — Lipi Roy, Md, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2024
  • Free public markets let anyone own anything but retail investors often still feel like second-class citizens in the world of finance.
    — Philip Maymin, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
  • Catholic women's groups that have long accused the Vatican of treating women as second-class citizens praised the change.
    — Harold Maass, The Week, 27 Apr. 2023
  • These are highly competitive guys who, for the most part, don’t like being considered, well, second-class citizens, in a sense.
    — Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 28 Apr. 2026
  • First, ‘finishers’ makes those players seem more involved than mere ‘substitutes’, which sounds distinctly second-class.
    — Michael Cox, New York Times, 14 Dec. 2025
  • Though the Mountain West is a second-class conference, the Aztecs would in no way be second-class citizens.
    — Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 July 2023
  • But in practice, these migrants often have been treated by their homeland as second-class citizens, stripped of their right to take part in national elections.
    — Soudi Jiménez, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2023

second class

2 of 2 noun
  • The airline offers special services for travelers in first and second class.
  • She got an upper second class in English at Oxford.
  • The second class has a top speed of 20mph with throttle assist.
    — Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 5 Mar. 2026
  • Odds drop off after Scheffler into a second class of contenders.
    — Ajc Sports, AJC.com, 4 Apr. 2026
  • Robert Edwin Kline was a 22-year-old gunner's mate second class when he was killed on the Arizona.
    — ABC News, 5 Mar. 2026
  • Smalley said the Dance for Parkinson's classes in Norman proved so popular that a second class was added.
    — Carla Hinton, Oklahoman, 9 Apr. 2026
  • The second class made a tulle skirt inspired by a Vera Wang wedding dress that was a favorite of the girls' during the brainstorming session.
    — Erin Clack, PEOPLE, 16 Dec. 2025
  • The second class also goes up to 20 mph and is pedal assisted, but additionally has a throttle that can keep the bike going even if the rider is not pedaling.
    — Natalie Davies, Freep.com, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Mandatory seat reservations cost about $67 in first or second class, and roughly $672 for excellence-class bookings.
    — Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 18 Dec. 2025
  • The second class includes those who were included in the incident announced on July 12, 2024.
    — Melina Khan, USA Today, 30 Mar. 2024
  • The second class includes those who were included in the incident announced on July 12, 2024.
    — Gabe Hauari, USA Today, 13 Nov. 2025
  • Newly promoted and newly in charge of at-sea extra-duty assignments, a second class sonarman in my division named Duff switched me from quarterdeck watch with the 9mm to line detail.
    — Literary Hub, 6 Aug. 2025
  • This was early September, during Miller’s second class of the semester teaching a songwriting course at the New School in New York’s Greenwich Village.
    — Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 9 Oct. 2025
  • The event also will celebrate the second class of the Black History Study program, the 100th anniversary of the Spady House, and the 25th anniversary of the museum.
    — Ben Crandell, Sun Sentinel, 1 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'second-class.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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