second-rank

I fear they will hang around the court of France for the rest of Henry’s life, and he will be known as a second-rank pretender: worth playing as a card in a game of treaties, worth nothing on his own account.

The Red Queen Philippa Gregory 2010

Within the corridors of power, Medvedev had no “team” of his own beyond a few law school friends and former colleagues who were seconded to Gazprom or scattered across a number of second-rank positions.

The Return Daniel Treisman 2011

Although suave, mildly erotic and, in its way, educational (you will meet many artists you've never heard of before), most of this is second-rank stuff, more at home in a manor house on Sunset Boulevard than a major art museum.

Nice Wing, Pity About the Art David Littlejohn 2010

Within the corridors of power, Medvedev had no “team” of his own beyond a few law school friends and former colleagues who were seconded to Gazprom or scattered across a number of second-rank positions.

The Return Daniel Treisman 2011

Los Angeles Times music critic Mark Swed credited Fleischmann with transforming "a provincial second-rank orchestra into one of the world's best."

Barbara Isenberg: Honoring Ernest Fleischmann, Legendary Impresario Barbara Isenberg 2011

Within the corridors of power, Medvedev had no “team” of his own beyond a few law school friends and former colleagues who were seconded to Gazprom or scattered across a number of second-rank positions.

The Return Daniel Treisman 2011

In the novel, one of the specialists who examines the manuscript concludes that it's "not as good as 'Hamlet,' but as good as 1593 Shakespeare"; that is, it belongs with early, second-rank efforts like the unendurable "Henry VI" trilogy.

Out of the Miasma of Bardolatry, a Masterpiece Sam Sacks 2011

Its moral ins-and-out are thrashed not only by Hacker and Sir Humphrey but also by second-rank civil servant Bernard Woolley (the shambolic Mark Slinger) and new character to the mixed nuts, Claire Sutton (a sleek Emily Joyce), whom the prime minister has tapped to give him advice whenever he twigs to Sir Humphrey's manipulations.

David Finkle: First Nighter: Yes, Prime Minister Prime Stage Comedy Meat David Finkle 2010

Within the corridors of power, Medvedev had no “team” of his own beyond a few law school friends and former colleagues who were seconded to Gazprom or scattered across a number of second-rank positions.

The Return Daniel Treisman 2011

Its moral ins-and-out are thrashed not only by Hacker and Sir Humphrey but also by second-rank civil servant Bernard Woolley (the shambolic Mark Slinger) and new character to the mixed nuts, Claire Sutton (a sleek Emily Joyce), whom the prime minister has tapped to give him advice whenever he twigs to Sir Humphrey's manipulations.

David Finkle: First Nighter: Yes, Prime Minister Prime Stage Comedy Meat David Finkle 2010