omega male

English

Etymology

Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet, while alpha is the first.

Noun

omega male (plural omega males)

1. A male who is the lowest in a social or group hierarchy; a subordinate.
   • 2004, Joseph Carroll, Literary Darwinism: Evolution, Human Nature, and Literature, page 140:

     […] but he still does not find her feeling for the omega male convincing.

   • 2007, Robert T. Tauber, Classroom Management: Sound Theory and Effective Practice, page 98:

     What might be overlooked in this wolf pack/classroom analogy is that where there is an alpha male (the wolf with all the power), there also is an omega male (the wolf at the bottom of the pack with absolutely no power).

   • 2011, Anne Innis Dagg, Animal Friendships, page 86:

     Kamots (named in Blackfoot for "freedom") was the alpha male, dominant to all other pack-mates, and Lakota (named ironically with the Sioux word for friend, when he was to have so few) the omega male, subordinate to all males including the cubs as they grew to adulthood.

Coordinate terms

• alpha female
• beta male
• gamma male
• delta male
• sigma male