inferior
adjective
in·fe·ri·or
in-ˈfir-ē-ər 
Examples of inferior in a Sentence
… the pearls were of inferior quality; they looked like pearlized globs of varying wrinkly shapes.
—
Tracie Rozhon, New York Times, 24 Aug. 2002
Sharks, rays, and ratfishes share a special burden: these cartilaginous fishes are saddled with a reputation for being somehow inferior to vertebrates blessed with bony skeletons.
—Carl Zimmer, Natural History, September 2000
No longer do workers and peasants feel inferior to the university-trained.
—Rhea Menzel Whitehead, Saturday Review, 4 Mar. 1972
These pearls are of inferior quality.
They were considered a socially inferior group.
He always felt inferior around his brother.
The judges voted to overturn a ruling made by an inferior court.
Tracie Rozhon, New York Times, 24 Aug. 2002
Sharks, rays, and ratfishes share a special burden: these cartilaginous fishes are saddled with a reputation for being somehow inferior to vertebrates blessed with bony skeletons.
—Carl Zimmer, Natural History, September 2000
No longer do workers and peasants feel inferior to the university-trained.
—Rhea Menzel Whitehead, Saturday Review, 4 Mar. 1972
These pearls are of inferior quality.
They were considered a socially inferior group.
He always felt inferior around his brother.
The judges voted to overturn a ruling made by an inferior court.
Recent Examples on the Web
One swing, one timely hit, can change the trajectory of a series, just as an error or inferior defense can unravel a series.
—Annie Heilbrunn, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Sep. 2025
But compared to the vast amount of data available to open-source models, in-house applications will always have inferior answers, Emmert said.
—Nino Paoli, Fortune, 24 Sep. 2025
Wolves fans are now angry, primarily at seeing a once-iconic first-team line-up sold off piece by piece and replaced in the main by inferior models.
—Steve Madeley, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2025
More to Explore By documenting lushly hirsute Japanese officials alongside their beardless counterparts, portraiture preserved a photographic record of colonial subjects’ visibly inferior status.
—H.m.a. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 13 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inferior
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Annie Heilbrunn, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Sep. 2025
But compared to the vast amount of data available to open-source models, in-house applications will always have inferior answers, Emmert said.
—Nino Paoli, Fortune, 24 Sep. 2025
Wolves fans are now angry, primarily at seeing a once-iconic first-team line-up sold off piece by piece and replaced in the main by inferior models.
—Steve Madeley, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2025
More to Explore By documenting lushly hirsute Japanese officials alongside their beardless counterparts, portraiture preserved a photographic record of colonial subjects’ visibly inferior status.
—H.m.a. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 13 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inferior
Cite this Entry
“Inferior.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inferior. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
inferior
adjective
in·fe·ri·or
in-ˈfir-ē-ər
1
: situated below and closer to the feet than another and especially another similar part of an upright body especially of a human being compare superior sense 1
2
: situated in a more posterior or ventral position in the body of a quadruped compare superior sense 2
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