inferiority

nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #9,167 of 15,258neutral

Inferiority is the state of being lower in quality or rank. An inferiority complex, a sense of inferiority, technical inferiority.

An inferiority complex is Adler's term for a deep-seated feeling of not measuring up, and it is used far more loosely in ordinary speech than he meant. The word covers both the fact and the feeling, and the two are often confused.

Definitions of inferiority

1nouninferiorityThe state of being lower in quality or rank.B2+
“Growing up with a brilliant older brother gave him a lasting feeling of inferiority.”

inferiority is a state.

Where it comes from

From inferior, from Latin inferior, lower, the comparative of inferus, below.

Latin
īnferior — lower in situation or place
English
inferior
English, today
inferiority

Built from

īnferus · Latin — below, underneath

Morphologically inferior + ity. inferior Borrowed from Latin īnferior (“lower in situation or place”), comparative of īnferus (“below, underneath”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

inferiority in the wild

In psychology, an inferiority complex is a consistent feeling of inadequacy, often resulting in the belief that one is in some way deficient, or inferior, to others.
Inferiority complex
A superiority complex is a defense mechanism that develops over time to help a person cope with feelings of inferiority.
Superiority complex
Despite his numerical inferiority Tromp got the upper hand in a running fight which lasted into the night.
Fight in the Channel
Compensation can cover up either real or imagined deficiencies and personal or physical inferiority.
Compensation (psychology)
On the other hand, negative compensations do not, which results in a reinforced feeling of inferiority.
Compensation (psychology)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the īnferus family

inferior infernal inferiority

inferiority — used about once every 4,294 pages · #9,167 · point at the bar for the others

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