Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

fifth-rate

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.62 in modern English

Syllables: fifth-rate
IPA

18

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of a Royal Navy warship in the Napoleonic Era: having 32–44 guns across one or two gun decks, a complement of 200–300, and weighing 700–1,450 tons burthen.

British usage

adj

Terrible, awful; less than fourth-rate.

noun

A fifth-rate warship.

British usage

Example Sentences

"[A] great and ſtout Fleet before the Texel (and not as much as one of our Fourth or Fifth Rate-Frigats could follow them)[.]"

Usage

British usage

Inflected Forms

fifth rate (alternative) fifth-rates (plural)

Phrases

first-rate fourth-rate second-rate sixth-rate third-rate great frigate

Frequently Paired Words

first-rate fourth-rate second-rate sixth-rate third-rate frigate great frigate

Synonyms

dismal horrible rubbish abysmal atrocious awful bad chronic coarse corny crap crapalicious

Questions

What does fifth-rate mean?: Of a Royal Navy warship in the Napoleonic Era: having 32–44 guns across one or two gun decks, a complement of 200–300, and weighing 700–1,450 tons burthen.

How to pronounce fifth-rate

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “fifth-rate”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “fifth-rate”.
Repeat and practice — Say “fifth-rate” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.