I. in ‧ fe ‧ ri ‧ or 1 /ɪnˈfɪəriə $ -ˈfɪriər/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: 'lower' , from inferus 'below' ]
1 . not good, or not as good as someone or something else OPP superior :
I felt very inferior among all those academics.
wine of inferior quality
inferior goods
inferior to
I always felt slightly inferior to her.
Their performance was inferior to that of other teams.
2 . formal lower in rank OPP superior :
an inferior court of law
He refused to accept a job of inferior status.
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COLLOCATIONS (for Meanings 1 & 2 )
■ adverbs
▪ greatly inferior
Iron is greatly inferior to steel in many ways.
▪ far inferior (=greatly inferior)
He easily defeated a far inferior opponent.
▪ considerably inferior (=by quite a large amount)
They have the same number of points as the league leaders, but a considerably inferior goal difference.
▪ vastly/grossly inferior (=by a very great amount)
The quality of service was vastly inferior in that other restaurant.
▪ slightly inferior ( also somewhat inferior formal )
I always felt slightly inferior to her.
▪ markedly inferior (=in a way that is easy to notice)
Our equipment was markedly inferior to that of the enemy forces.
▪ socially inferior
She felt socially inferior to her husband's wealthy friends.
▪ morally inferior
Non-believers were considered morally inferior by people who adopted the new religion.
▪ intellectually inferior
Students from working-class families were made to feel intellectually inferior.
▪ intrinsically inferior (=inferior as part of its nature or character)
Recorded music is intrinsically inferior to the real thing.
■ verbs
▪ feel inferior
Women are made to feel inferior by men's violence towards them.
▪ consider somebody/something inferior
The poor are considered inferior by some people.
■ nouns
▪ inferior quality
The poor soil produces wine of inferior quality.
▪ an inferior position
He argued that capitalism requires some people to be kept in an inferior position in society.
▪ inferior status formal (=an inferior position)
As a slave, he was aware of his inferior status.
▪ inferior service
He wrote a letter to complain about inferior service at the hotel.
▪ inferior goods/products
The public are being deceived into buying inferior goods.
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THESAURUS
▪ worse more unpleasant, bad, severe etc, or of a lower standard or quality:
Recent reports indicate that the situation is getting worse.
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Your French is even worse than mine!
▪ inferior of a lower standard or quality than something else, or less good than someone else:
Their wines are of inferior quality.
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an inferior product
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Trying to do things on the cheap only results in an inferior service.
▪ not compare with something used to emphasize that someone or something is not nearly as good, big, or nice as someone or something else:
This recording just doesn’t compare with his early recordings.
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Our sales this year do not compare with last year’s outstanding results.
▪ not be in the same league informal used to emphasize that the standard of someone or something is not nearly as good as someone or something else:
He’s pretty good, but he’s not in the same league as his brother.
▪ not be a patch on something/somebody British English informal use this to emphasize that something is not nearly as good as something else, especially something that came before it:
The film wasn’t a patch on the book.
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He’s not a patch on Tarantino as an director.
II. inferior 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
someone who has a lower position or rank than you in an organization OPP superior