Standard Lemma guide

inferiority

noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɒɹɪti
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 N F IH0 R IY0 AO1 R IH0 T IY2 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The quality or state of being inferior.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An inferior value or quality.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

An inferior power.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The quality of being a competitive disadvantage.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

an inferior quality

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: low quality

Antonyms: superiority

Broader terms: quality, caliber, calibre

Narrower terms: poorness, scrawniness, scrubbiness, second class, wretchedness

6

noun

Meaning 6

the quality of being a competitive disadvantage

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unfavorable position

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: disadvantage

7

noun

Meaning 7

the state of being inferior

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lower status, lower rank

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: low status, lowness, lowliness

Narrower terms: backseat, shade, subordinateness, subsidiarity

History

Etymology

Morphologically inferior + -ity.

Across languages

Translations

32 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: natamamlıq — quality of being inferior
  • Bulgarian: малоценност (malocennost) — quality of being inferior
  • Catalan: inferioritat — quality of being inferior
  • Chinese Mandarin: 劣勢 /劣势 (lièshì) — quality of being inferior
  • Chinese Mandarin: 低劣 (dīliè) — quality of being inferior
  • Dutch: minderwaardigheid — quality of being inferior
  • Dutch: inferioriteit — quality of being inferior
  • Esperanto: malsupereco — quality of being inferior
  • Finnish: alemmuus — quality of being inferior
  • Finnish: alempiarvoisuus — quality of being inferior
  • Finnish: huonommuus — quality of being inferior
  • French: infériorité — quality of being inferior
  • Galician: inferioridade — quality of being inferior
  • Georgian: დაბალი ხარისხი (dabali xarisxi) — quality of being inferior
  • Georgian: დაბალი მდგომარეობა (dabali mdgomareoba) — quality of being inferior
  • Georgian: უფრო დაბალი ხარისხი (upro dabali xarisxi) — quality of being inferior
  • Georgian: უფრო დაბალი მდგომარეობა (upro dabali mdgomareoba) — quality of being inferior
  • Ancient Greek: ἥττημα (hḗttēma) — quality of being inferior
  • Ido: infreso — quality of being inferior
  • Italian: inferiorità — quality of being inferior
  • Japanese: 下賎 (gesen) — quality of being inferior
  • Japanese: 下級 (kakyū) — quality of being inferior
  • Japanese: 低級 (teikyū) — quality of being inferior
  • Japanese: 劣位 (retsui) — quality of being inferior
  • Polish: niższość — quality of being inferior
  • Russian: неполноце́нность (nepolnocénnostʹ) — quality of being inferior
  • Spanish: inferioridad — quality of being inferior
  • Swedish: underlägsenhet — quality of being inferior
  • Tamil: இழிவு (iḻivu) — quality of being inferior
  • Tamil: தாழ்வு (tāḻvu) — quality of being inferior
  • Japanese: 損 (son) — quality of being a competitive disadvantage
  • Japanese: 不利 (furi) — quality of being a competitive disadvantage