inferior
lower in station, rank, degree, or grade (often followed by to): a rank inferior to colonel.
lower in place or position; closer to the bottom or base: descending into the inferior regions of the earth.
of comparatively low grade; poor in quality; substandard: an inferior product.
less important, valuable, or worthy: B+ bonds are inferior to AAA bonds.
acting or performing in a way that is comparatively poor or mediocre: an inferior observer of human nature.
Botany.
situated below some other organ.
(of a calyx) inserted below the ovary.
(of an ovary) having a superior calyx.
Anatomy. (of an organ or part)
lower in place or position; situated beneath another.
toward the feet.: Compare superior (def. 9).
Astronomy. lying below the horizon: the inferior part of a meridian.
Printing. written or printed low on a line of text, as the “2” in H2O; subscript.: Compare superior (def. 10).
a person inferior to another or others, as in rank or merit.
Also called subscript. Printing. a letter, number, or symbol written or printed low on a line of text.: Compare superior (def. 12).
Origin of inferior
1Other words for inferior
Other words from inferior
- in·fe·ri·or·i·ty [in-feer-ee-awr-i-tee, -or-], /ɪnˌfɪər iˈɔr ɪ ti, -ˈɒr-/, noun
- in·fe·ri·or·ly, adverb
- qua·si-in·fe·ri·or, adjective
- sub·in·fe·ri·or, adjective
Words Nearby inferior
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use inferior in a sentence
I was not inadequate or inferior, but trying to fit into spaces that had not been created with people like me in mind.
The nub of her argument, whether acting for men or women plaintiffs, was that treating men and women differently under the law helped tokeep woman in her place, a place inferior to that occupied by men in our society.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Forged A New Place For Women In The Law And Society | LGBTQ-Editor | September 23, 2020 | No Straight NewsTo some degree the AMP initiative is part of that, making sure that the mobile web experience isn’t completely inferior to the app experience.
Is Apple getting real about search and about to take on Google? | Greg Sterling | August 27, 2020 | Search Engine LandAfter the census office used inferior paper cards that left fibers in the mercury, Hollerith required his customers to purchase his own high-quality cards.
Just because you live alone doesn’t mean that you’re somehow living an inferior life.
Is There Really a “Loneliness Epidemic”? (Ep. 407) | Stephen J. Dubner | February 27, 2020 | Freakonomics
Some were blatantly inferior, he said, at times with metal shavings and burrs in the threads.
Patients Screwed in Spine Surgery ‘Scam’ | The Center for Investigative Reporting | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThink about this: music is the only branch of the entertainment world to embrace progressively inferior technologies.
Five Lessons the Faltering Music Industry Could Learn From TV | Ted Gioia | August 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWhile it came with multiple different preset control styles, it was still an inferior system.
People listen to it on tinny cellphone speakers that are entirely inferior to what they had in lo-tech times of yore.
Comedy Is His Calling: The Brilliance of Billy Crystal | Tom Shales | April 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAdderall is an inferior drug, asserts Hart, because of its side effects.
Then we are again overgrown boys, beings of inferior race and incapable of being civilized.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanBut closely allied to this subject, and not inferior to it in importance, stands that of Industrial Training.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleyDearer than the cigarritos are the cigars, which are not inferior to the best Havanna.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.He is thought to be little inferior to Racine in the merit of his dramatic compositions.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellBut, glad as was the schemer, his delight and sense of freedom were much inferior to those of his misguided and unlucky partner.
British Dictionary definitions for inferior
/ (ɪnˈfɪərɪə) /
lower in value or quality
lower in rank, position, or status; subordinate
not of the best; mediocre; commonplace
lower in position; situated beneath
(of a plant ovary) enclosed by and fused with the receptacle so that it is situated below the other floral parts
astronomy
orbiting or occurring between the sun and the earth: an inferior planet; inferior conjunction
lying below the horizon
printing (of a character) printed at the foot of an ordinary character, as the 2 in H 2 O
an inferior person
printing an inferior character
Origin of inferior
1Derived forms of inferior
- inferiority (ɪnˌfɪərɪˈɒrɪtɪ), noun
- inferiorly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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