inferior Hear it!

inferior Definition

in·feri·or (in fir′ē ər)

adjective

  1. lower in space; placed lower down
  2. low or lower in order, status, rank, etc.; subordinate
  3. lower in quality or value than: with to
  4. poor in quality; below average
  5. Anat. located below or directed downward
  6. Astron. designating or of planets between the earth and the sun
  7. Bot. having the sepals, petals, and stamens attached at the apex: said of the ovary of an epigynous flower
  8. Printing placed below the type line, as 2 in NO

Etymology: ME < L, compar. of inferus, low, below < IE *ṇdheros < base *ṇdhos, under

noun

an inferior person or thing

inferior Related Forms
in·fe′ri·or′·ity (-ôr′ə tē, -är′-) noun in·fe′ri·or·ly adverb
inferior Synonyms

inferior

modif.

  1. Low in rank

    secondary, lower, minor, junior; see subordinate, under 2.

  2. Low in quality

    mediocre, second-rate, substandard; see poor 2.

inferior Synonyms

inferior

n.

subordinate, junior, underling, subaltern; see assistant.

inferior Usage Examples

Modifying Another Word

  • vastly: However, the vastly inferior years barely showed up on the field.
  • markedly: The recordings of these last two interviews are markedly inferior.
  • intellectually: Client: I was so anxious that I would come across as intellectually inferior to the group members and the tutor.
  • numerically: How can a group so numerically inferior wield so large an influence upon the majority of the world?
  • decidedly: Now, most of the museums I have visited in Greece are decidedly inferior to the British Museum in matters of presentation.

Adjective modifier

  • social: The alcoholic seeks out those he regards as his social inferiors to drink among.

Modifies a noun

  • cava: Inferior vena cava The lower section of the largest vein in the body which returns blood to the heart.
  • gyrus: No regions, except the anterior inferior gyrus, were significantly activated in patients.
  • colliculus: The role of the inferior colliculus in the ability to localize sounds in the environment.
  • cortex: The temporal source was significantly stronger than the one in inferior frontal cortex.
  • artery: The superior and inferior vesical arteries carry most of the blood supply.
  • lobe: The inferior parietal lobe is involved in spatial and mathematical reasoning skills, at which boys tend to perform better than girls.

Used with adjective complement

  • feel: Making your hosts feel inferior may worsen already low morale.
  • deem: I am all against discrimination, but I think the bigger insult is to be deemed too inferior to be mocked.
  • consider: Blacks, southern and eastern Europeans were considered inferior.
  • regard: Irish folksong in English, on the other hand, is often regarded as inferior to Gaelic folksong.
  • seem: Since Henry VII did not want to seem inferior to the Holy Roman emperor, he had two hoops made on his crown.
  • mean: Different does not mean inferior, as today many think.

Preposition: in

  • term: Educate both producers and consumers that sustainably grown medicinals are NOT necessarily inferior in terms of quality and efficacy to wild harvested materials.
inferior Quotes

The man who offers a bribe gives awaya little of his own importance; the bribe once accepted, he becomes the inferior, like a man who has just paid for a woman.

—Greene, (Henry) Graham

Byour skill in Mechanism, it has cometo pass, that in the management of external things we excel all other ages; while in whatever respects the pure mortal nature, in true dignity of soul and character, we are perhaps inferior to most civilised ages.

—Carlyle,Thomas

Your great glory is not to be inferior to what you have been given by nature, and the greatest glory of a woman is to be least talked about by men, whether theyare praising or criticizing you.

—Pericles

   I look upon Switzerland as an inferior sort of Scotland.

—Smith, Rev Sydney

   Titles distinguish the mediocre, embarrass the superior, and are disgraced by the inferior.

—Shaw, George Bernard