superior

English

Alternative forms

• superiour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin superior (“higher, being more above”), from superus (“being above”), from super (“above, over”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA: /suːˈpɪriɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪəriə(r)

Adjective

superior (comparative more superior, superlative most superior)

1. Higher in quality.

   Rebecca had always thought shorts were far superior to pants, as they didn't constantly make her legs itch.

2. Higher in rank.
3. Located above.
4. Being greater or better than average; extraordinary.

Usage notes

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

Antonyms

• inferior

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]}

Derived terms

• superiorness

Related terms

• superiority

Translations

higher in rank or quality

Arabic: اجدر (’ájdar) Chinese: 優越的, 优越的 (yōuyuè de) Dutch: superieur Esperanto: supera (eo) Finnish: ylempi (rank); parempi (quality) French: supérieur (fr) German: höher, höherstehend Greek: ανώτερος (el) (anoteros) m. Hungarian: kiváló (hu)

Italian: superiore (it) Japanese: 勝れた (すぐれた, sugureta) Korean: 우수한 (usuhan) Norwegian: overlegen Portuguese: superior (pt) Romanian: superior (ro) m. Russian: высший (ru) (výsšij) Spanish: superior (es) Swedish: överlägsen (sv)

located above

Arabic: يعلو (ar) Armenian: վերին (hy) (verin)

Finnish: yläpuolinen (fi)

extraordinary

Finnish: erinomainen (fi)

Noun

superior (plural superiors)

1. A person of higher rank or quality.
2. The senior person in a monastic community.

Related terms

• father superior
• mother superior

Translations

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: superulo

External links

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

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Latin

Adjective

superior (comparative of superus)

1. higher
2. superior

Inflection

Number	Singular			Plural
Case \ Gender	M.F.	N.		MM.FF.	NN.
nominative	superior	superius		superiōrēs	superiōra
genitive	superiōris	superiōris		superiōrum	superiōrum
dative	superiōrī	superiōrī		superiōribus	superiōribus
accusative	superiōrem	superius		superiōrēs	superiōra
ablative	superiōre	superiōre		superiōribus	superiōribus
vocative	superior	superius		superiōrēs	superiōra

Descendants

• English: superior
• French: supérieur
• Italian: superiore
• Romanian: superior
• Spanish: superior

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Romanian

Adjective

superior

1. superior

Antonyms

• inferior

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Spanish

Adjective

superior m. and f. (plural superiores)

1. upper, higher
2. better
3. superior

Noun

superior m. (plural superiores, feminine singular superiora, feminine plural superioras)

1. boss

Synonyms

• jefe, jefa
• patrón, patrona