01
zweitbest
second-best
Standing in second place in a ranking according to quality, performance, or popularity.
example
Mit seiner Zeit lief er das zweitbeste Ergebnis des Tages.
With his time, he achieved the second-best result of the day.
zweitbest
second-best
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Meanings
Usage tips
Word composition
The word is a compound of the ordinal number 'zweit-' (second) and the superlative 'best' (best). So it literally means 'in the second-best position'.
EXAMPLE
Er hat den zweitbesten Platz im Wettbewerb erreicht.
He achieved second-best place in the competition.
Productive pattern
This pattern is very productive. You can combine it with other ordinal numbers ('drittbest' = third-best, 'viertbest' = fourth-best) and other superlatives ('zweitgrößte' = second-largest, 'zweitwichtigste' = second-most important).
EXAMPLE
Berlin ist die zweitgrößte Stadt Deutschlands.
Berlin is the second-largest city in Germany.
Use in a sentence
Like other adjectives, 'zweitbest-' is declined when it stands before a noun. But it can also stand at the end of a sentence without declension.
EXAMPLE
Wir haben uns für die zweitbeste Option entschieden.
We decided on the second-best option.
Compare with
zweitbest vs best
best
'best' and 'zweitbest' both describe high quality in a ranking. But the difference is important: 'best' means first place, that is, the highest quality or performance. 'zweitbest' means second place, so good, but not quite in first place. The words can be confused because both sound positive and often appear in comparisons. If something is surpassed by no one or nothing, you say 'best'. If only one thing is better, you say 'zweitbest'.
zweitbest
Dieses Hotel war ausgebucht, also nehmen wir die zweitbeste Möglichkeit.
This hotel was fully booked, so we'll take the second-best option.
best
Das ist die beste Lösung für unser Problem.
That is the best solution to our problem.
In real life
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