Secondhand Meaning
/ˌsɛk(ə)n(d)ˈhænd/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjNot new; previously owned and used by another.
adjDealing in such merchandise.
Sentence Examples
I came across this book in a secondhand bookstore.
Tom advised him not to buy the secondhand car.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Instead of buying new, she purchased a ____ vehicle at a discount from a local dealer.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She furnished her flat entirely with ____ furniture bought from charity shops and auctions.
Word Origin & History
From second + hand.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In the light of recent history it is somewhat curious that this decisive power of the professional secondhand dealers in ideas should not yet be more generally recognized."
— 1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 417:
"What's love got to do, got to do with it? / What's love but a secondhand emotion?"
— 1984, “What’s Love Got To Do With It”, performed by Tina Turner:
"So nearly every name comes from a second hand source. The exception to this rule has been the vigilantes themselves. Rube Mathis and Jack Wells, both admitted to participating, and Mathis identified his brother."
— 2013, Bruce Crow, A Land of Strangers: Cane Creek Tennessee's Mormon Massacre and its Tragic Effects on the People Who Lived There:
"However, Partridge’s information is second-hand, and requires verification."
— 2014, James Lambert, “A Much Tortured Expression: A New Look At `Hobson-Jobson'”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 27, number 1, page 60:
"The relation of Tristram's death is thus distanced from the narrative to which it belongs, and it is also distanced in that we do not see it happen with our own eyes, but hear of it by a second-hand report which introduces it incidentally, not for its own sake."
— 2014, Jill Mann, Life in Words: Essays on Chaucer, the Gawain-Poet, and Malory:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Instead of buying new, she purchased a ____ vehicle at a discount from a local dealer.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She furnished her flat entirely with ____ furniture bought from charity shops and auctions.