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secondary

/ˈsɛkənˌdɛɹi/noun, adjective4 syllables

Secondary means: being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate.

Synonyms for secondary33

noun, as in coil such that current is induced in it by passing a current through the primary coil

secondary coil, secondary winding

adjective, as in being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate

alternate, alternative, substitute, auxiliary, subsidiary, supplemental, supplementary, collateral, indirect, secondhand, second-string, standby, thirdhand, tributary
and 5 more, utility, vicarious, inessential, unessential, unoriginal

adjective, as in inferior in rank or status

junior-grade, lower-ranking, lowly, petty, subaltern, junior

adjective, as in depending on or incidental to what is original or primary

incidental, incident

adjective, as in belonging to a lower class or rank

subordinate, low-level

adjective, as in not of major importance

minor

also used for secondary

associate

Includes material from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Opposites of secondary

primary

What does secondary mean?7

adjective

1

being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate“the stone will be hauled to a secondary crusher”

2

inferior in rank or status“a lowly corporal”

3

depending on or incidental to what is original or primary“a secondary infection”

4

belonging to a lower class or rank

5

not of major importance“played a secondary role in world events”

noun

1

coil such that current is induced in it by passing a current through the primary coil

2

the defensive football players who line up behind the linemen

Definitions from the Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Secondary in a sentence

  • When writing a dissertation, it is important to heavily scrutinise your secondary sources.Rawrren
  • Our secondary goal is to reconstruct what happened.CM
  • We all went to the same secondary school.sundown
  • Must the woman always play the secondary role?Jesse
  • He got all his information from secondary sources.CM
  • We went to a secondary school to invigilate today.xiuqin
  • Ziri has changed a lot since secondary school.Amastan
  • Rima has changed a lot since secondary school.Amastan

Sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR, credited to their authors.

Forms of secondary

as a noun

plural
secondaries