su·pe·ri·or

(so͝o-pîr′ē-ər)

adj.

1. Higher than another in rank, station, or authority: a superior officer.

2. Of a higher nature or kind.

3. Of great value or excellence; extraordinary.

4. Greater in number or amount than another: an army defeated by superior numbers of enemy troops.

5. Presuming to be or suggesting that one is morally or socially better than others; disdainful or supercilious.

6. Above being affected or influenced; indifferent or immune: "Trust magnates were superior to law" (Gustavus Myers).

7. Located higher than another; upper.

8. Botany Inserted or situated above the perianth. Used of an ovary.

9. Printing Set above the main line of type.

10. Logic Of wider or more comprehensive application; generic. Used of a term or proposition.

1. One that surpasses another in rank or quality.

2. Ecclesiastical The head of a religious community, such as a monastery, abbey, or convent.

3. Printing A superior character, as the number 2 in x².

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin, comparative of superus, upper, from super, over; see uper in Indo-European roots.]

su·pe′ri·or′i·ty (-ôr′ĭ-tē, -ŏr′-) n.

su·pe′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.

su•pe•ri•or•i•ty

(səˌpɪər iˈɔr ɪ ti, -ˈɒr-, sʊ-)

n.

the quality or condition of being superior.

[1520–30; < Medieval Latin superiōritās]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	superiority - the quality of being superior high quality caliber, calibre, quality - a degree or grade of excellence or worth; "the quality of students has risen"; "an executive of low caliber" choiceness, fineness - the quality of being very good indeed; "the inn is distinguished by the fineness of its cuisine" first class - the highest rank in a classification first water - the highest quality gems ingeniousness, ingenuity, cleverness - the property of being ingenious; "a plot of great ingenuity"; "the cleverness of its design" low quality, inferiority - an inferior quality
	2.	superiority - the quality of being at a competitive advantage favorable position, favourable position advantage, vantage - the quality of having a superior or more favorable position; "the experience gave him the advantage over me" edge - a slight competitive advantage; "he had an edge on the competition" inside track - a favorable position in a competition; "the boss's son had the inside track for that job" upper hand, whip hand - position of advantage and control
	3.	superiority - displaying a sense of being better than others; "he hated the white man's superiority and condescension" arrogance, haughtiness, hauteur, high-handedness, lordliness - overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors
	4.	superiority - the state of excelling or surpassing or going beyond usual limits transcendence, transcendency supremacy, domination, mastery - power to dominate or defeat; "mastery of the seas"

superiority

noun supremacy, lead, advantage, excellence, prevalence, ascendancy, pre-eminence, preponderance, predominance Our army has air superiority.

Quotations
"Superiority is always detested" [Baltasar Gracián The Art of Worldly Wisdom]

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

superiority

noun

1. The quality of being exceptionally good of its kind:

excellence, fineness, superbness.

2. A dominating position, as in a conflict:

advantage, better, bulge, draw, drop, edge, upper hand, vantage.

Informal: inside track, jump.

3. The quality of being arrogant:

arrogance, haughtiness, hauteur, insolence, loftiness, lordliness, overbearingness, presumption, pride, pridefulness, proudness, superciliousness.

Translations

nadřazenost

overlegenhedovermagt

felsõbb ség

yfirburîir; yfirlæti

superiorit...superiorità

nadradenosť

premoč

üstünlük

优越

superiority

[sʊˌpɪərɪˈɒrɪtɪ] N

1. (in quality, amount) → superioridad f

2. (= smugness) → superioridad f, altanería 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

superiority

[suːˌpɪəriˈɒrəti] n → supériorité fsuperiority complex n → complexe m de supériorité

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

superiority

(of cloth etc) → bessere Qualität; (of technique, ability etc) → Überlegenheit f; its superiority as a holiday resort → seine bessere Klasse als Ferienort

(= excellence) → Großartigkeit f; (of intellect) → überragende Eigenschaft

(in rank) → höhere Stellung, höherer Rang

(in numbers etc) → Überlegenheit f

(= conceitedness) → Überheblichkeit f; (of tone, smile) → Überlegenheit f; superiority complex → Superioritätskomplex m

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

superiority

[sʊˌpɪərɪˈɒrɪtɪ] n → superiorità

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

superior

(suˈpiəriə) adjective

1. (often with to) higher in rank, better, or greater, than. Is a captain superior to a commander in the navy?; With his superior strength he managed to overwhelm his opponent.

2. high, or above the average, in quality. superior workmanship.

3. (of a person or his attitude) contemptuous or disdainful. a superior smile.

noun

a person who is better than, or higher in rank than, another or others. The servant was dismissed for being rude to her superiors.

suˌperiˈority (-ˈo-) noun

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

For be a man's intellectual superiority what it will, it can never assume the practical, available supremacy over other men, without the aid of some sort of external arts and entrenchments, always, in themselves, more or less paltry and base.

View in context

They are of three kinds that cannot be questioned--the superiority of the thinker, the superiority of the politician, the superiority of wealth.

View in context

They soon began to boast of their respective superiority to each other in strength and prowess.

View in context

On the contrary, when he saw more of Captain Wentworth, saw him repeatedly by daylight, and eyed him well, he was very much struck by his personal claims, and felt that his superiority of appearance might be not unfairly balanced against her superiority of rank; and all this, assisted by his well-sounding name, enabled Sir Walter at last to prepare his pen, with a very good grace, for the insertion of the marriage in the volume of honour.

View in context

Their superiority of abode was no more to them than their superiority of person.

View in context

Berg smiled with a sense of his superiority over a weak woman, and paused, reflecting that this dear wife of his was after all but a weak woman who could not understand all that constitutes a man's dignity, what it was ein Mann zu sein.* Vera at the same time smiling with a sense of superiority over her good, conscientious husband, who all the same understood life wrongly, as according to Vera all men did.

View in context

GENERAL INFORMATION GATHERED AT THE FESTIVAL--PERSONAL BEAUTY OF THE TYPEES--THEIR SUPERIORITY OVER THE INHABITANTS OF THE OTHER ISLANDS--DIVERSITY OF COMPLEXION--A VEGETABLE COSMETIC AND OINTMENT--TESTIMONY OF VOYAGERS TO THE UNCOMMON BEAUTY OF THE MARQUESANS--FEW EVIDENCES OF INTERCOURSE WITH CIVILIZED BEINGS--DILAPIDATED MUSKET--PRIMITIVE SIMPLICITY OF GOVERNMENT-- REGAL DIGNITY OF MEHEVI

View in context

Considering the man as an intruder on their business, whose success might deprive them of the credit and reward of making the discovery, they took advantage of their superiority in numbers, and of their being first in the field, and carefully misled the stranger before they ventured any further with their own investigations.

View in context

The expedients which have been mentioned would soon give the States or confederacies that made use of them a superiority over their neighbors.

View in context

May not the minor party possess such a superiority of pecuniary resources, of military talents and experience, or of secret succors from foreign powers, as will render it superior also in an appeal to the sword?

View in context

Blunt came towards me in all the elegance of his slimness and affirming in every line of his face and body, in the correct set of his shoulders and the careless freedom of his movements, the superiority, the inexpressible superiority, the unconscious, the unmarked, the not-to-be-described, and even not- to-be-caught, superiority of the naturally born and the perfectly finished man of the world, over the simple young man.

View in context

There is exquisite pleasure in subduing an insolent spirit, in making a person predetermined to dislike acknowledge one's superiority. I have disconcerted him already by my calm reserve, and it shall be my endeavour to humble the pride of these self important De Courcys still lower, to convince Mrs.

View in context