1. The company introduced a new car model, but the production quality is still fourth-rate , like all their other cars.
2. My assessment is that he’s a fourth-rate man with a first-rate education. He’s been well trained, but I don’t think he understands what our company’s about.

Antonym: first-rate. Synonyms: second-rate; third-rate. Expressions using rate generally go only as far as fourth-rate Second- , third- , and fourth-rate are synonymous. There are no degrees of inferiority. They are all opposites of first-rate