secondary

/ˌsɛkənˈdɛri/

/ˈsɛkəndɛri/

Other forms: secondaries

Something secondary is second most important. This can also refer to things that are not important at all.

If you have a primary duty, that's what you need to do first. Secondary duties must be done next, since second is a form of the number two. You could say your secondary goal at a job is to get experience, if your main goal is to make money. Also, people will sometimes say, "This is our goal. Everything else is secondary." That means other concerns are trivial or unimportant. Either way, secondary things never come first.

Definitions of secondary

1. adjective

   being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate
   “the stone will be hauled to a secondary crusher”

   “a secondary source”

   “a secondary issue”

   “secondary streams”

   synonyms:

   inessential, unessential

   not basic or fundamental

   unoriginal

   not original; not being or productive of something fresh and unusual

   alternate, alternative, substitute

   serving or used in place of another

   auxiliary, subsidiary, supplemental, supplementary

   functioning in a supporting capacity

   collateral

   accompanying; concomitant

   indirect

   not as a direct effect or consequence

   secondhand

   derived from what is primary or original; not firsthand

   second-string

   being a replacement or substitute for a regular member of a team

   standby

   ready for emergency use

   thirdhand

   derived from what is primary or original by two intermediate steps

   tributary

   (of a stream) flowing into a larger stream

   substitute, utility

   capable of substituting in any of several positions on a team

   vicarious

   experienced at secondhand

   antonyms:

   primary

   of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary

   essential

   basic and fundamental

   first

   preceding all others in time or space or degree

   original

   being or productive of something fresh and unusual; or being as first made or thought of

   capital

   of primary importance

   direct

   being an immediate result or consequence

   firsthand

   received directly from a source

   first-string

   being a regular member of a team

   original

   (of e.g. information) not secondhand or by way of something intermediary

   particular, special

   first and most important
2. adjective

   belonging to a lower class or rank
   synonyms:

   low-level, subordinate

   lower in rank or importance
3. adjective

   inferior in rank or status
   synonyms: junior-grade, lower-ranking, lowly, petty, subaltern

   junior

   younger; lower in rank; shorter in length of tenure or service
4. adjective

   not of major importance
   “played a secondary role in world events”

   synonyms:

   minor

   of lesser importance or stature or rank
5. adjective

   depending on or incidental to what is original or primary
   “a secondary infection”

   synonyms:

   incident, incidental

   (sometimes followed by `to') minor or casual or subordinate in significance or nature or occurring as a chance concomitant or consequence
6. noun

   coil such that current is induced in it by passing a current through the primary coil
   synonyms: secondary coil, secondary winding

   type of:

   coil

   reactor consisting of a spiral of insulated wire that introduces inductance into a circuit
7. noun

   the defensive football players who line up behind the linemen
   type of:

   formation

   an arrangement of people or things acting as a unit