inferior

English

Alternative forms

• inferiour (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnferior (“lower, inferior”), the comparative of īnferus (“low, nether, underground”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĭnfîrēər, IPA: /ɪnˈfɪ(ə)ɹiɚ/, SAMPA: /In"fI(@)r\i@`/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪəriə(r)

Adjective

inferior (comparative more inferior, superlative most inferior)

1. of lower quality

   Anna had always felt inferior to her brother due to poor school grades.

2. of lower rank
3. located below
4. In botany, inside the flower stalk below the petals. Said of an ovary.

Usage notes

Inferior and superior are generally followed by to; than is seen sometimes, but is viewed as wrong.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:bad

Antonyms

• superior

Coordinate terms

• (dentistry location adjectives) anterior, apical, axial, buccal, cervical, coronal, distal, distobuccal, distolingual, facial, gingival, incisal, inferior, labial, lingual, mandibular, maxillary, mesial, mesiobuccal, mesiolingual, occlusal, palatal, posterior, proximal, superior, vestibular ^{(Category: en:Dentistry) [edit]}

Related terms

• inferiority

Translations

of lower quality

Portuguese: inferior (pt) m. and f.

Swedish: undermålig (sv)

of lower rank

Swedish: underordnad (sv)

located below

Armenian: ստորին (hy) (storin)

inside the flower stalk

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: malsupera

Spanish: inferior

Noun

inferior (plural inferiors)

1. a person of lower stature to another

   As you are my inferior, I can tell you to do anything I want.

Antonyms

• superior

Translations

person of lower status (noun)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Chinese: 下等 (xiadeng) Dutch: inferieur Finnish: alempi, alempiarvoinen French: inférieur German: minderwertig Greek: κατώτερος (katóteros)

Italian: inferiore Japanese: 劣った (ototta) Korean: 열등한 (yeoldeunghan) Latin: inferior m/f, inferius n. Russian: плохонько (plokhon'ko) Spanish: inferior

External links

• inferior in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• inferior in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• inferior at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• fire iron

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Latin

Adjective

īnferior (comparative of inferus)

1. lower

Inflection

Number	Singular			Plural
Case \ Gender	M.F.	N.		MM.FF.	NN.
nominative	īnferior	īnferius		īnferiōrēs	īnferiōra
genitive	īnferiōris	īnferiōris		īnferiōrum	īnferiōrum
dative	īnferiōrī	īnferiōrī		īnferiōribus	īnferiōribus
accusative	īnferiōrem	īnferius		īnferiōrēs	īnferiōra
ablative	īnferiōre	īnferiōre		īnferiōribus	īnferiōribus
vocative	īnferior	īnferius		īnferiōrēs	īnferiōra

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Spanish

Adjective

inferior m. and f. (plural inferiores)

1. inferior (of lower quality)
2. inferior (of lower rank)
3. inferior (below)

Antonyms

• superior

Related terms

• inferioridad