Inferior

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: in=fe=ri=or

CIDE DICTIONARY

Inferior, a. [L., compar. of inferus that is below, underneath, the lower; akin to E. under: cf. F. inférieur. See Under.].

•  Lower in place, rank, value, excellence, etc.; less important or valuable; subordinate; underneath; beneath.  [1913 Webster]

  "A thousand inferior and particular propositions."  [1913 Webster]

  "The body, or, as some love to call it, our inferior nature."  [1913 Webster]

  "Whether they are equal or inferior to my other poems, an author is the most improper judge."  [1913 Webster]
•  Poor or mediocre; as, an inferior quality of goods.  [1913 Webster]
•  Nearer the sun than the earth is; as, the inferior or interior planets; an inferior conjunction of Mercury or Venus.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  Junior or subordinate in rank; as, an inferior officer.  [1913 Webster]

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.

Inferior, n. 

 A person lower in station, rank, intellect, etc., than another.  [1913 Webster]
"A great person gets more by obliging his inferior than by disdaining him."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Inferior, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 (often foll. by to) a lower; in a lower position. b of lower rank, quality, etc.
2 poor in quality.
3 (of a planet) having an orbit within the earth's.
4 Bot. situated below an ovary or calyx.
5 (of figures or letters) written or printed below the line.
--n.
1 a person inferior to another, esp. in rank.
2 an inferior letter or figure.

Derivative

inferiorly adv.

Etymology

ME f. L, compar. of inferus that is below

THESAURUS

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

ROGET THESAURUS

Inferior

Imperfection

N imperfection, imperfectness, deficiency, inadequacy, peccancy, immaturity, fault, defect, weak point, screw loose, flaw, gap, twist, taint, attainder, bar sinister, hole in one's coat, blemish, weakness, half blood, shortcoming, drawback, seamy side, mediocrity, no great shakes, no great catch, not much to boast of, one-horse shay, imperfect, not perfect, deficient, defective, faulty, unsound, tainted, out of order, out of tune, cracked, leaky, sprung, warped, lame, injured, peccant, frail, inadequate, crude, incomplete, found wanting, below par, short-handed, below its full strength, under its full strength, below its full complement, indifferent, middling, ordinary, mediocre, average, so-so, coucicouci, milk and water, tolerable, fair, passable, pretty well, pretty good, rather good, moderately good, good, good enough, well enough, adequate, decent, not bad, not amiss, inobjectionable, unobjectionable, admissible, bearable, only better than nothing, secondary, inferior, second-rate, second-best, one-horse, almost, to a limited extent, rather, pretty, moderately, passing, only, considering, all things considered, enough, surgit amari aliquid.

Inferiority

N inferiority, minority, subordinacy, shortcoming, deficiency, minimum, smallness, imperfection, lower quality, lower worth, commonalty, inferior, smaller, small, minor, less, lesser, deficient, minus, lower, subordinate, secondary, secondrate, sub, subaltern, thrown into the shade, weighed in the balance and found wanting, not fit to hold a candle to, can't hold a candle to, least, smallest &c (little) (small), lowest, diminished, reduced, unimportant, less, under the mark, below the mark, below par, at the bottom of the scale, at a low ebb, at a disadvantage, short of, under.