inferior

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in·fe·ri·or

(ĭn-fîr′ē-ər)

adj.

1. Low or lower in order, degree, or rank: Captain is an inferior rank to major.

a. Low or lower in quality, value, or estimation: inferior craft; felt inferior to his older sibling.

b. Second-rate; poor: an inferior translation.

3. Situated under or beneath.

4. Botany Located below the perianth and other floral parts. Used of an ovary.

5. Anatomy Located beneath or directed downward.

6. Printing Set below the normal line of type; subscript.

7. Astronomy

a. Orbiting between Earth and the sun: Mercury is an inferior planet.

b. Lying below the horizon.

1. A person lower in rank, status, or accomplishment than another.

2. Printing An inferior character, such as the number 2 in CO₂.

[Middle English, from Latin īnferior, comparative of īnferus, low; see n̥dher- in Indo-European roots.]

in·fe′ri·or′i·ty (-ôr′ĭ-tē, -ŏr′-) n.

in·fe′ri·or·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

inferior

(ɪnˈfɪərɪə)

adj

1. lower in value or quality

2. lower in rank, position, or status; subordinate

3. not of the best; mediocre; commonplace

4. lower in position; situated beneath

5. (Botany) (of a plant ovary) enclosed by and fused with the receptacle so that it is situated below the other floral parts

6. (Astronomy) astronomy

a. orbiting or occurring between the sun and the earth: an inferior planet; inferior conjunction.

b. lying below the horizon

7. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) printing (of a character) printed at the foot of an ordinary character, as the 2 in H2O

8. an inferior person

9. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) printing an inferior character

[C15: from Latin: lower, from inferus low]

inferiority n

inˈferiorly adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

in•fe•ri•or

(ɪnˈfɪər i ər)

adj.

1. low or lower in station, rank, degree, or grade (often fol. by to).

2. low or lower in place or position; closer to the bottom or base.

3. of comparatively low grade; poor in quality; substandard.

4. Bot.

a. situated below some other organ.

b. (of a calyx) inserted below the ovary.

c. (of an ovary) having a superior calyx.

5. Anat. (of an organ or part)

a. lower in place or position; situated beneath another.

b. being toward the feet.

Compare superior (def. 9).

6. Astron.

a. (of a planet) having an orbit within that of the earth, as Mercury and Venus.

b. (of a conjunction of an inferior planet) taking place between the sun and the earth.

7. written or printed low on a line of text, as the “2” in H₂O; subscript. Compare superior (def. 11).

8. a person inferior to another or others, as in rank or merit.

9. subscript.

[1400–50; late Middle English < Latin, derivative of infer(us) lower]

in•fe•ri•or•i•ty (ɪnˌfɪər iˈɔr ɪ ti, -ˈɒr-) n.

in•fe′ri•or•ly, adv.

inferior

If one thing is inferior to another, it is of poorer quality than the other thing.

His photographs were inferior to those taken by Ernie.

Tolstoy's thinking was vastly inferior to his fiction.

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	inferior - one of lesser rank or station or quality follower - a person who accepts the leadership of another higher-up, superior, superordinate - one of greater rank or station or quality
	2.	inferior - a character or symbol set or printed or written beneath or slightly below and to the side of another character subscript grapheme, graphic symbol, character - a written symbol that is used to represent speech; "the Greek alphabet has 24 characters"
Adj.	1.	inferior - of or characteristic of low rank or importance subordinate, low-level - lower in rank or importance low - literal meanings; being at or having a relatively small elevation or upward extension; "low ceilings"; "low clouds"; "low hills"; "the sun is low"; "low furniture"; "a low bow" low - less than normal in degree or intensity or amount; "low prices"; "the reservoir is low" superior - of or characteristic of high rank or importance; "a superior ruler"
	2.	inferior - of low or inferior quality worst - (superlative of `bad') most wanting in quality or value or condition; "the worst player on the team"; "the worst weather of the year" superior - of high or superior quality or performance; "superior wisdom derived from experience"; "superior math students"
	3.	inferior - written or printed below and to one side of another character subscript printing process, printing - reproduction by applying ink to paper as for publication
	4.	inferior - having an orbit between the sun and the Earth's orbit; "Mercury and Venus are inferior planets" astronomy, uranology - the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole superior - having an orbit farther from the sun than the Earth's orbit; "Mars and Jupiter are the closest in of the superior planets"
	5.	inferior - lower than a given reference point; "inferior alveolar artery" anatomy, general anatomy - the branch of morphology that deals with the structure of animals bottom - situated at the bottom or lowest position; "the bottom drawer"
	6.	inferior - falling short of some prescribed norm; "substandard housing" substandard, deficient nonstandard - varying from or not adhering to a standard; "nonstandard windows"; "envelopes of nonstandard sizes"; "nonstandard lengths of board"

inferior

adjective

1. lower, junior, minor, secondary, subsidiary, lesser, humble, subordinate, lowly, less important, menial the inferior status of women in many societies
lower higher, senior, superior, greater, top

2. substandard, bad, poor, mean, worse, poorer, pants (informal), flawed, rotten, dire, indifferent, duff (Brit. informal), mediocre, second-class, deficient, imperfect, second-rate, shoddy, low-grade, unsound, downmarket, low-rent (informal, chiefly U.S.), for the birds (informal), wretched, two-bit (U.S. & Canad. slang), crappy (slang), no great shakes (informal), poxy (slang), dime-a-dozen (informal), piss-poor (slang), chickenshit (U.S. slang), bush-league (Austral. & N.Z. informal), not much cop (Brit. slang), tinhorn (U.S. slang), half-pie (N.Z. informal), of a sort or of sorts, strictly for the birds (informal) The cassettes were of inferior quality.
substandard fine, excellent, first-class

noun

1. underling, junior, subordinate, lesser, menial, minion It was a gentleman's duty to be civil, even to his inferiors.

Quotations
"No-one can make you feel inferior without your consent" [Eleanor Roosevelt]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

inferior

adjective

1. Below another in standing or importance:

junior, lesser, low, lower, minor, minor-league, petty, secondary, small, subaltern, subordinate, under.

Informal: smalltime.

2. Of low or lower quality:

common, low-grade, low-quality, mean, mediocre, second-class, second-rate, shabby, substandard.

noun

One belonging to a lower class or rank:

junior, secondary, subaltern, subordinate, underling.

Translations

أَدْنَىدون، أدْنىرَديء، أدنى درجَةًسُفْليّ

podřízenýhoršípodřadnějšípodřadný

underordnetdårligereringe

minderwertig niedriger subaltern Untergebener untergeordnet

παρακατιανός υποδεέστερος υφιστάμενος

inferior peor

alempiarvoinen henkilöhuonompi

inférieur subalterne subordonné

podređenislabiji

rosszabb minőségű

lægra setturlægri; lélegur; lélegri

inferiore subalterno di valore scadente

劣った目下の者

손아랫사람열등한

blogesnė kokybėblogesnisnepilnavertiškumasžemesnė padėtisžemesnis

mazvērtīgākssliktāks

inferieur ondergeschikte

underordnet dårlig underlegen

niższy podwładny

inferior

низший

podradnejší

manjvredenpodrejen

underlägsenunderordnad

ด้อยกว่าผู้ด้อยกว่า

aşağı astnitelikçe/değerce daha düşükalt

thua kémthuộc cấp

下等的下级下级的劣等的

inferior

[ɪnˈfɪərɪəʳ]

A. ADJ

1. (in quality, rank) [person, status, position] → inferior; [product, work, service] → de calidad inferior
to feel inferior → sentirse inferior
of inferior quality → de calidad inferior
to be inferior to sth/sb → ser inferior a algo/algn

2. (Anat, Bot) (= lower) → inferior

B. N

1. (= inferior person) → inferior mf

2. (= person lower in rank) → inferior mf, subalterno/a m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

inferior

[ɪnˈfɪəriə^r]

adj

[person, quality, status] → inférieur(e)
to feel inferior → se sentir inférieur(e)
to make sb feel inferior → donner à qn un sentiment d'infériorité
to feel inferior to sb → se sentir inférieur(e) à qn
to be inferior to → être inférieur(e) à

[goods] → de qualité inférieure

(= person of lesser worth) → inférieur(e) m/f
to consider sb an inferior → considérer qn comme inférieur(e)

(in rank) → subalterne mf

inferior

adj

(in quality) → minderwertig; person → unterlegen; (in rank) → untergeordnet, niedriger; quality → geringer, minderwertig; (Jur) court → untergeordnet; an inferior workman → ein weniger guter Handwerker; to be inferior to something (in quality) → von minderer or geringerer Qualität sein als etw, gegen etw abfallen or nicht ankommen; to be inferior to somebody → jdm unterlegen sein; (in rank) → jdm untergeordnet or nachgestellt sein; he feels inferior → er kommt sich (dat) → unterlegen or minderwertig vor

(Typ) inferior letter → tiefstehender Buchstabe

(Biol) order, species → niedriger

n one’s inferiors (in social standing) → Leute or Personen pl → aus einer niedrigeren Schicht; (in rank) → seine Untergebenen pl

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

inferior

[ɪnˈfɪərɪəʳ]

1. adj (in quality, rank) inferior (to) → inferiore (a); (work, goods) → scadente
to feel inferior → sentirsi inferiore

2. n → inferiore m/f; (in rank) → subalterno/a

inferior

(inˈfiəriə) adjective

(sometimes with to).

1. of poor, or poorer, quality etc. This carpet is inferior to that.

2. lower in rank. Is a colonel inferior to a brigadier?

inˌferiˈority (-ˈo-) noun

inferior

→ أَدْنَى, سُفْليّ podřadný, podřízený ringe, underordnet Untergebener, untergeordnet υποδεέστερος, υφιστάμενος inferior alempiarvoinen henkilö, huonompi inférieur, subordonné podređeni, slabiji inferiore 劣った, 目下の者 손아랫사람, 열등한 inferieur, ondergeschikte underlegen, underordnet niższy, podwładny inferior низший underlägsen, underordnad ด้อยกว่า, ผู้ด้อยกว่า aşağı, ast thua kém, thuộc cấp 下等的, 下级

in·fer·i·or

a. inferior.

inferior

adj (anat) inferior

References in classic literature ?

"The judicial power of the United States is" (by the plan of the convention) "to be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish."[1]

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Those of England are known to be no wise inferior to their Greek or Roman predecessors.

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For saith Pliny, very wittily, In commending another, you do yourself right; for he that you commend, is either superior to you in that you commend, or inferior. If he be inferior, if he be to be commended, you much more; if he be superior, if he be not to be commended, you much less.

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If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.

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The situation of the inferior gentry, or Franklins, as they were called, who, by the law and spirit of the English constitution, were entitled to hold themselves independent of feudal tyranny, became now unusually precarious.

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It matters little if those who are inferior to us in merit should be like us in outside appearances.

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The voluptuous Tahitians are the only people who at all deserve to be compared with them; while the dark-haired Hawaiians and the woolly-headed Feejees are immeasurably inferior to them.

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To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

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The youthful infatuation of nineteen would naturally blind him to every thing but her beauty and good nature; but the four succeeding years--years, which if rationally spent, give such improvement to the understanding, must have opened his eyes to her defects of education, while the same period of time, spent on her side in inferior society and more frivolous pursuits, had perhaps robbed her of that simplicity which might once have given an interesting character to her beauty.

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At most terrestrial men fancied there might be other men upon Mars, perhaps inferior to themselves and ready to welcome a mis- sionary enterprise.

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He considered the blessing of beauty as inferior only to the blessing of a baronetcy; and the Sir Walter Elliot, who united these gifts, was the constant object of his warmest respect and devotion.

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And if so, my friend, I said, there is no special faculty of administration in a state which a woman has because she is a woman, or which a man has by virtue of his sex, but the gifts of nature are alike diffused in both; all the pursuits of men are the pursuits of women also, but in all of them a woman is inferior to a man.