These words refer to something rated as being among the best of its kind. Excellent points literally to something that excels other things. As such, it is often sued to designate the highest class in a grading, rating or ranking system: an eating guide that rated many restaurants as good or very good, but only a few as excellent . Often, however, as with most superlatives, excellent is not thought to be high enough in its praise and it takes second place to some other word: a debating team disappointed at getting an Excellent instead of a Superior rating.

Neither first-class nor first-rate admits of this sort of devaluation; one thing cannot be more first-rate than another. Both indicate the topmost category in a ranking system. First-rate can suggest a military or paramilitary system: a first-class scout; a first-class marksman. Even outside this context the word would suggest a set of clear categories into which things can be placed by objective evaluation: a first-class motel; first-class mail. As can be seen from the last example, any notion of excellence may well absent from this word’s meaning. Used more loosely and subjectively, the word can describe anything one likes or approves of: a first-class fellow; a first-class movie. First-rate may sometimes suggest careful evaluation based more on imponderable than on objective categorization: feeling in first-rate health; a first-rate analysis of current political tendencies. But while inherent worth is usually indicated by the word, it can sometimes point to something consequential rather than excellent: a first-rate world power. This word is even more open than first-class to uses indicating mere subjective approval: a first-rate girl friend; a first-rate party. Both words can also indicate something that is thought to be supremely bad; first-class may lend itself more readily to this use, but in any case it can give a more informal tone and may have comic force: a first-class heel; a first-class bore; a first-rate disaster.

Prime can refer to something of first significance, urgency or value: television programmes that appear in prime time; the prime need being to get the combatants to the conference table. It can also refer to anything that is excellent , best, most typical or at its peek: prime beef; prime theatrical fare; a prime example; athletes in prime condition. More neutrally, it can suggest the main part of something or what comes first: our prime reason for deciding to approve the bill; her prime concern being for the safety of her children. Choice , by contrast, refers to what has been winnowed out, because it fulfils high and discriminating standards. The word is widely used in the merchandising of prepared foods, especially fruit and vegetables; choice garden-fresh peas. Oddly enough, choice often seems stronger than prime in contexts other than the grading of foodstuffs. By implication, what is prime may be overlooked or easily available, whereas choice suggests the successful discrimination of what is both rare and excellent : their choicest wine from a vast stock that contained nothing of less than prime quality.

Select , and the variant selected , can refer to timber that is by and large free of blemish or knots. More generally, select (or selected ) compares with choice by stressing discrimination; here again it often relates to tinned or packaged foods: selected golden-ripe apricots in heavy syrup. Select differs from choice , however, in often referring to a mere sampling of excellent things that cannot be presented in full: select highlights from his best-known films. A weakening of select’s force may result by analogy with selected in cases where the latter indicates not a careful process of differentiation but an arbitrary compression or subjective sampling.