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inferiority

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 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.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.inferiority - the state of being inferior
low status, lowness, lowliness - a position of inferior status; low in station or rank or fortune or estimation
backseat - a secondary or inferior position or status; "tennis has had to take a backseat while his work is so demanding"
shade - a position of relative inferiority; "an achievement that puts everything else in the shade"; "his brother's success left him in the shade"
subordinateness, subsidiarity - secondary importance
2.inferiority - an inferior quality
caliber, calibre, quality - a degree or grade of excellence or worth; "the quality of students has risen"; "an executive of low caliber"
poorness - the quality of being poorly made or maintained; "she was unrecognizable because of the poorness of the photography"
scrubbiness, scrawniness - the property of being stunted and inferior in size or quality; "the scrawniness of sickly trees"
second class - not the highest quality in a classification
wretchedness - the quality of being poor and inferior and sorry; "he has compiled a record second to none in its wretchedness"
high quality, superiority - the quality of being superior
3.inferiorityinferiority - the quality of being a competitive disadvantage
disadvantage - the quality of having an inferior or less favorable position

inferiority
noun subservience, subordination, lowliness, servitude, abasement, inferior status or standing I found it difficult to shake off a sense of inferiority.
subservience dominance, superiority, ascendancy, advantage
Translations
inferiority [ɪnˌfɪərɪˈɒrɪtɪ]
A. Ninferioridad f
inferiority to sth/sbinferioridad f frente a or con respecto a algo/algn
B. CPD inferiority complex N (Psych) → complejo m de inferioridad
inferiority [ɪnˌfɪəriˈɒrɪti] ninfériorité f
inferiority complex ncomplexe m d'infériorité
inferiority
n (in quality) → Minderwertigkeit f; (of person)Unterlegenheit f(to gegenüber); (in rank) → untergeordnete Stellung, niedrigere Stellung, niedrigerer Rang (to als)
inferiority [ɪnˌfɪərɪˈɒrɪtɪ] ninferiorità
inferiority [ɪnˌfɪərɪˈɒrɪtɪ] ninferiorità


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
This it is, that for ever keeps God's true princes of the Empire from the world's hustings; and leaves the highest honors that this air can give, to those men who become famous more through their infinite inferiority to the choice hidden handful of the Divine Inert, than through their undoubted superiority over the dead level of the mass.
But it must often have happened that a new species belonging to some one group will have seized on the place occupied by a species belonging to a distinct group, and thus caused its extermination; and if many allied forms be developed from the successful intruder, many will have to yield their places; and it will generally be allied forms, which will suffer from some inherited inferiority in common.
He was waited upon over the factory, shown the machinery by George, who, in high spirits, talked so fluently, held himself so erect, looked so handsome and manly, that his master began to feel an uneasy consciousness of inferiority.
 
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