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inferior

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.06 sec.
in·fe·ri·or  (n-fîr-r)
adj.
1. Low or lower in order, degree, or rank: Captain is an inferior rank to major.
2.
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.
n.
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 nferior, comparative of nferus, low; see dher- in Indo-European roots.]

in·feri·ori·ty (-ôr-t, -r-) n.
in·feri·or·ly adv.

inferior
Adjective
1. lower in quality, quantity, or usefulness
2. lower in rank, position, or status
3. of poor quality
4. lower in position
5. Printing (of a character) printed at the foot of an ordinary character
Noun
a person inferior to another, esp. in rank [Latin: lower]
inferiority n
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.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
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
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"
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 << OPPOSITE superior
adjective 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) 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) bodger or bodgie Austral. (slang) << OPPOSITE excellent
Translations
inferior [ɪnˈfɪərɪəʳ] adj, ninferior m/f;
to feel inferior → sentirse inferior

inferior [ɪnˈfɪərɪəʳ] adjinférieur(e); [goods] → de qualité inférieure
ninférieur(e);
(in rank) → subalterne m/f;
to feel inferior → avoir un sentiment d'infériorité

inferior [ɪnˈfɪərɪəʳ] adj (in rank) → untergeordnet, niedriger;
(in quality) → minderwertig;
(in quantity, number) → geringer
nUntergebene(r) f(m);
to feel inferior (to sb) → sich (jdm) unterlegen fühlen

inferior [ɪnˈfɪərɪəʳ] adjinferiore; [goods] → di qualità scadente
ninferiore m/f;
(in rank) → subalterno/a;
to feel inferior → sentirsi inferiore

inferior
adj inferior [inˈfiəriə]
(sometimes withto)
1 of poor, or poorer, quality etc This carpet is inferior to that. minderwaardig رَديء، أدنى درجَةً с лошо качество horší, podřadnější dårligere (end) minderwertig κατώτερος, κατώτερης ποιότητας inferior, peor (millestki, kellestki) halvem نامرغوب؛ بنجل huono, huonompi inférieur à נָחוּת घटिया donji, niži rosszabb minőségű rendah lægri; lélegur; lélegri inferiore 劣る (품질이) 떨어지는, 열등한 blogesnis sliktāks; mazvērtīgāks bermutu rendah minderwaardig dårlig(ere) gorszy inferior inferior худший (по качеству) podradnejší slabši inferioran sämre, underlägsen ต่ำกว่ามาตรฐาน nitelikçe/değerce daha düşük 劣等的 нижчої якості; гірший کمتر kém hơn
2 lower in rank Is a colonel inferior to a brigadier? ondergeskik دون، أدْنى нисш podřízený underordnet niedriger, unterlegen υφιστάμενος, κατώτερος στην ιεραρχία inferior (kellelegi) alluv زیردست alempiarvoinen subalterne זוּטָר छोटा podređen alsóbbrendű lebih rendah lægra settur inferiore 下位の 하위의 žemesnis padots; pakļauts rendah ondergeschikt underordnet niższy inferior subaltern, inferior низший (по званию) podriadený podrejen inferioran lägre i rang, underordnad ด้อยกว่า aşağı, alt 下級的 нижчий; підлеглий نچلے درجے کا thấp hơn về địa vị
n inˌferiˈority [-ˈo-]
minderwaardigheid, ongeskiktheid دونيَّه، حِطَّه، دُنو المنزلَه малоценност podřízenost; podřadnost mindreværd die Minderwertigkeit κατωτερότητα inferioridad alamus پستی؛ دون پایگی alemmuus infériorité נְחִיתוּת घटियापन, अपकर्ष podređenost alsóbbrendűség lægri staða, minni gæði; vanmáttur inferiorità 劣等 떨어짐 blogesnė kokybė, žemesnė padėtis, nepilnavertiškumas mazvērtīgums; padotība; pakļautība rendah diri minderwaardigheid, ondergeschiktheid mindreverd(ighet) niższość inferioridade inferioritate более низкое качество, звание podriadenosť; podradnosť podrejenost inferiornost underlägsenhet, lägre samhällställning (värde) ความด้อย aşağılık; düşüklük 下等 нижчий ступінь; неповноцінність کمتری sự thua kém


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Those of England are known to be no wise inferior to their Greek or Roman predecessors.
It matters little if those who are inferior to us in merit should be like us in outside appearances.
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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