5 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

inferior

adjective

1: of or characteristic of low rank or importance [ant: {superior}]

2: of low or inferior quality [ant: {superior}]

3: inferior in rank or status; "the junior faculty"; "a lowly corporal"; "petty officialdom"; "a subordinate functionary" [syn: {junior-grade}, {lower}, {lower-ranking}, {lowly}, {petty(a)}, {secondary}, {subaltern}, {subordinate}]

4: written or printed below and to one side of another character [syn: {subscript}] [ant: {adscript}, {superscript}]

5: having an orbit between the sun and the Earth's orbit; "Mercury and Venus are inferior planets" [ant: {superior}]

6: lower than a given reference point; "inferior alveolar artery"

7: falling short of some prescribed norm; "substandard housing" [syn: {deficient}, {substandard}]

noun

1: one of lesser rank or station or quality [ant: {superior}]

2: a character or symbol set or printed or written beneath or slightly below and to the side of another character [syn: {subscript}] [ant: {superscript}]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Inferior \In*fe"ri*or\, noun A person lower in station, rank, intellect, etc., than another.

A great person gets more by obliging his inferior than by disdaining him. --South.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Inferior \In*fe"ri*or\, adjective [L., compar. of inferus that is below, underneath, the lower; akin to E. under: cf. F. inf['e]rieur. See {Under}.]

1. Lower in place, rank, value, excellence, etc.; less important or valuable; subordinate; underneath; beneath.

A thousand inferior and particular propositions. --I. Watts.

The body, or, as some love to call it, our inferior nature. --Burke.

Whether they are equal or inferior to my other poems, an author is the most improper judge. --Dryden.

2. Poor or mediocre; as, an inferior quality of goods.

3. (Astron.) (a) Nearer the sun than the earth is; as, the inferior or interior planets; an inferior conjunction of Mercury or Venus. (b) Below the horizon; as, the inferior part of a meridian.

4. (Bot.) (a) Situated below some other organ; -- said of a calyx when free from the ovary, and therefore below it, or of an ovary with an adherent and therefore inferior calyx. (b) On the side of a flower which is next the bract; anterior.

5. (Min.) Junior or subordinate in rank; as, an inferior officer.

{Inferior court} (Law), a court subject to the jurisdiction of another court known as the {superior court}, or {higher court}.

{Inferior letter}, {Inferior figure} (Print.), a small letter or figure standing at the bottom of the line (opposed to {superior letter} or figure), as in A2, Bn, 2 and n are inferior characters.

{Inferior tide}, the tide corresponding to the moon's transit of the meridian, when below the horizon.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

coarsened \coarsened\ adjective made coarse or crude by lack of skill; -- sometimes used to mean {inferior}. [WordNet 1.5]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

217 Moby Thesaurus words for "inferior": Mickey Mouse, adherent, assistant, attendant, auxiliary, average, back-burner, bad, base, black, bootlicker, cheap, cheesy, client, coarse, cog, common, commonality, commonalty, crappy, creature, criminal, crummy, declasse, defective, deficient, demeaning, dependent, deputy, dinky, disadvantaged, disciple, dispensable, doormat, down, earlier, employee, evil, fair, feudal, feudatory, flunky, follower, fourth-class, gimcrack, good-for-nothing, hack, hanger-on, heeler, helper, henchman, hireling, hoi polloi, homager, humble, ill, immaterial, imperfect, improper, in the shade, inaccurate, inadequate, inappreciable, inauspicious, incapable, incapable of, incompetent, inconsequential, inconsiderable, indifferent, ineffective, inefficient, inept, inessential, inexpedient, infra dig, insignificant, insufficient, invalid, irregular, irrelevant, junior, junky, lackey, lacking, less, lesser, lickspittle, liege, liege man, lightweight, little, lousy, low, low-class, low-grade, low-priority, low-quality, low-test, lower, lower class, lower orders, lowest, lowly, malevolent, marginal, masses, mean, mediocre, menial, middling, minion, minor, minus, minute, modest, myrmidon, negligible, nether, no great shakes, no-account, no-good, nonessential, not vital, of no account, of no consequence, of no matter, of no significance, ordinary, paltry, pawn, peccant, peon, petit, poor, poor relation, punk, retainer, right-hand man, satellite, satrap, scrub, second fiddle, second rank, second string, second-best, second-class, second-rate, secondary, seedy, serf, servant, servile, shabby, shoddy, short, short of, sinful, sinister, slave, sleazy, small, sorry, stooge, sub, subaltern, subjacent, subject, subordinate, subservient, substandard, sycophant, tacky, tawdry, technical, third rank, third string, third stringer, third-class, third-rate, tinny, tributary, unable, unable to, under, underling, underprivileged, understrapper, unendowed, unessential, unfavorable, unfit, unfitted, ungifted, unhealthy, unimportant, unimpressive, unkind, unnoteworthy, unpleasant, unqualified, unreached, unskillful, untalented, untoward, unworthy, valueless, vassal, vicious, vulgar, wanting, wicked, worthless, wretched, wrong, yeoman, yes-man

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