sub·al·tern
sə-ˈbȯl-tərn 
especially British ˈsə-bəl-tərn
1
: particular with reference to a related universal proposition
"some S is P" is a subaltern proposition to "all S is P"
2
1
: a person holding a subordinate position
specifically
: a junior officer (as in the British army)
2
: a particular proposition that follows immediately from a universal
Examples of subaltern in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025
Some of these movements were also explicitly anti-caste, which has been attributed to the consolidation of the subaltern, yielding a sense of solidarity and common purpose.
—Nilakantan Rs, Quartz, 5 Jan. 2023
The winners of the subaltern awards make no speeches, just say a simple thank you, if that.
—Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Mar. 2022
Even the ultimate military failure of the Coromantee War, Brown suggests, should be viewed primarily as a consequence of subaltern decisions and divisions rather than of a stable colonial hegemony.
—Fara Dabhoiwala, The New York Review of Books, 3 Aug. 2020
For the dominant group, being judged and asked to justify itself, as so many subaltern groups are judged and asked to justify themselves, feels like an insult.
—David Roberts, Vox, 26 July 2018
In both novels, Kushner cuts the glamor of Rome, New York City, and Havana with scenes of subaltern life at the edge of manufacturing.
—Josephine Livingstone, The New Republic, 7 June 2018
Benjamin Hale
june 23, Literary Hub, 23 June 2025
The only time she is known to have experienced communal education was in early 1945 — shortly before the end of World War II — when she was enrolled briefly in the Auxiliary Territorial Service as an honorary subaltern, training in the skills of driving and maintaining military vehicles.
—Alan Cowell, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2022
In other words, what the organizers had prompted was a realization that racial oppression has two, not one, regimes of violence: the violence that subjugates the subaltern and the violence that subjugates the slave, or the black.
—Frank B. Wilderson Iii, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2020
The queen – then Princess Elizabeth – became an honorary second subaltern of the Army in 1945.
—Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 4 June 2019
The visiting dignitary is Queen Elizabeth — now perhaps better known as the Queen Mother — and the young ATS subaltern is her daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth II.
—Lily Rothman, Time, 25 May 2018
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Adjective
The mall was one small testament to what Ali meant in Manila and in other corners of the subaltern world.
—Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025
Some of these movements were also explicitly anti-caste, which has been attributed to the consolidation of the subaltern, yielding a sense of solidarity and common purpose.
—Nilakantan Rs, Quartz, 5 Jan. 2023
The winners of the subaltern awards make no speeches, just say a simple thank you, if that.
—Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Mar. 2022
Even the ultimate military failure of the Coromantee War, Brown suggests, should be viewed primarily as a consequence of subaltern decisions and divisions rather than of a stable colonial hegemony.
—Fara Dabhoiwala, The New York Review of Books, 3 Aug. 2020
For the dominant group, being judged and asked to justify itself, as so many subaltern groups are judged and asked to justify themselves, feels like an insult.
—David Roberts, Vox, 26 July 2018
In both novels, Kushner cuts the glamor of Rome, New York City, and Havana with scenes of subaltern life at the edge of manufacturing.
—Josephine Livingstone, The New Republic, 7 June 2018
Noun
But the subaltern can subvert the master’s language by twisting it and playing with it, being irreverent with (and toward) it.
—Benjamin Hale
june 23, Literary Hub, 23 June 2025
The only time she is known to have experienced communal education was in early 1945 — shortly before the end of World War II — when she was enrolled briefly in the Auxiliary Territorial Service as an honorary subaltern, training in the skills of driving and maintaining military vehicles.
—Alan Cowell, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2022
In other words, what the organizers had prompted was a realization that racial oppression has two, not one, regimes of violence: the violence that subjugates the subaltern and the violence that subjugates the slave, or the black.
—Frank B. Wilderson Iii, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2020
The queen – then Princess Elizabeth – became an honorary second subaltern of the Army in 1945.
—Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 4 June 2019
The visiting dignitary is Queen Elizabeth — now perhaps better known as the Queen Mother — and the young ATS subaltern is her daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth II.
—Lily Rothman, Time, 25 May 2018
Cite this Entry
“Subaltern.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subaltern. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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