thirdhand
thirdhand adjective: having been relayed by two intermediate sources.
Adjective
thirdhand (comparative more thirdhand, superlative most thirdhand)
- Having been relayed by two intermediate sources.
- Considering that we had heard of one another in a rather third-hand manner, I was surprised at the warmth and energy with which he received me.1983 August 13, Michael Ross, “Our Common Bond: Gay Men in East Germany”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 5, page 18
- Harare, the capital, was abuzz on Tuesday with such so-called insider accounts, each one undoubtedly taking new plot twists as they went from secondhand to thirdhand and further on.2008 April 2, The New York Times, “Talks May End Mugabe’s Rule in Zimbabwe”, in New York Times
- Having had two previous owners.
Adverb
thirdhand (comparative more thirdhand, superlative most thirdhand)
- By two intermediates.
Forms of thirdhand
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more thirdhand |
| superlative | most thirdhand |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more thirdhand |
| superlative | most thirdhand |
| alternative form | third-hand |
Origin of thirdhand
From third + hand.
Words that rhyme with thirdhand
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- outstand
- overhand
- bestand
- gland
- secondhand
- unscanned
- disband
- grand
- offhand
- unmanned
- unplanned
- aband
- aland
- fanned
- firsthand
- lotus land
- lotusland
- misbrand
- planned
- redemand
- reland
- repand
- scanned
- shand
- tanned
- withstand
- 2ndhand
- astrand
- at second hand
- banned
- counterdemand
- desand
- fand
- grande
- haircut band
- hand
- interstrand
- manned
- misunderstand
- multiplicand
- nonbrand
- operand
- overmanned
- overplanned
- panned
- preplanned
- rebrand
- replanned
Questions about thirdhand
- What does thirdhand mean?
- Thirdhand means having been relayed by two intermediate sources.
- What part of speech is thirdhand?
- Thirdhand can be an adjective or an adverb.
Words near thirdhand in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: thirdhand (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “thirdhand.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/thirdhand. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.