inferior

 
Pronunciation: /ɪnˈfɪərɪə/

adjective

  • 1lower in rank, status, or quality: schooling in inner-city areas was inferior to that in the rest of the country
  • of low standard or quality: inferior goods
  • Law (of a court or tribunal) susceptible to having its decisions overturned by a higher court.
  • Economics denoting goods or services which are in greater demand during a recession than in a boom, for example second-hand clothes.
  • 2chiefly Anatomy low or lower in position: ulcers located in the inferior and posterior wall of the duodenum
  • Botany (of the ovary of a flower) situated below the sepals and enclosed in the receptacle.
  • 3(of a letter, figure, or symbol) written or printed below the line.

noun

  • 1a person lower than another in rank, status, or ability: her social and intellectual inferiors
  • 2 Printing an inferior letter, figure, or symbol.

Derivatives

inferiorly

adverb
inferior (sense 2 of the adjective).

Origin:

late Middle English (in inferior (sense 2 of the adjective)): from Latin, comparative of inferus 'low'