Thesaurus
inferior
adjective
Synonyms and Antonyms of INFERIOR
1
situated lower down <creatures that inhabit the dark, inferior depths of the ocean>
2
of little or less value or merit <a girl who has always felt inferior to her older sister>
Related Words junior, lesser, lower, low-level, petty, smaller, subordinate, under; average, common, fair, middling, ordinary; amiss, bad, defective, unsatisfactory, wrong; deficient, inadequate, insufficient, unacceptable; littler, slighter, smaller; jerkwater, low-rent, one-horse, small-time, two-bit
Near Antonyms major, more, primary, senior; choice, exceptional, first-class, first-rate, high-grade, premium, prime, select, selected; acceptable, adequate, sufficient
3
belonging to the class of people of low social or economic rank <at one time, the upper crust liked to believe that inferior people were fit only to be servants>
Synonyms baseborn, common, humble, inferior, low, lowborn, lower-class, low-life, lowly, lumpen, mean, plebeian, prole, proletarian, unwashed, vulgar
Related Words bourgeois, middle-class; plain, poor, simple, working-class; déclassé, down-market, downscale
Antonyms aristocratic, blue-blooded, genteel, gentle, grand, great, high, highborn, highbred, lofty, noble, partrician, upper-class, upper-crust, wellborn
4
falling short of a standard <an inferior science textbook that was out-of-date the day that it was published>
Synonyms bastard, bush, bush-league, crummy (also crumby), deficient, dissatisfactory, ill, inferior, lame, lousy, off, paltry, poor, punk, sour, suboptimal, subpar, substandard, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, wack [slang], wanting, wretched, wrong
Related Words abysmal, atrocious, awful, bitchin' [slang], brutal, damnable, deplorable, detestable, disastrous, dreadful, execrable, gnarly [slang], horrendous, horrible, pathetic, stinky, sucky [slang], terrible, unspeakable; defective, faulty, flawed; egregious, flagrant, gross; bum, cheesy, coarse, common, crappy [slang], cut-rate, junky, lesser, low-grade, low-rent, mediocre, miserable, reprehensible, rotten, rubbishy, second-rate, shoddy, sleazy, trashy; abominable, odious, vile; useless, valueless, worthless; inadequate, insufficient, lacking, meager (or meagre), mean, miserly, niggardly, scanty, shabby, short, skimp, skimpy, spare, stingy; miscreant, scurrilous, villainous; counterfeit, fake, phony (also phoney), sham
Near Antonyms classic, classical; A1, bang-up, banner, boss [slang], capital, choice, crackerjack, dandy, divine, excellent, exceptional, fabulous, fine, first-class, first-rate, grand, great, groovy, heavenly, high-test, jim-dandy, keen, marvelous (or marvellous), mean, neat, nifty, noble, par excellence, perfect, premium, prime, sensational, slick, splendid, stellar, sterling, superb, superior, superlative, supernal, swell, terrific, tip-top, top, top-notch, unsurpassed, wonderful; better, exceptional, fancy, high-grade, special, sufficient; average, borderline, fair, mediocre, middling, minimal, so-so, unexceptional; suitable, useful, worthy; gratifying, satisfying
Antonyms acceptable, adequate, all right, decent, fine, OK (or okay), passable, respectable, satisfactory, standard, tolerable
5
having not so great importance or rank as another <an inferior officer cannot strike a superior under any circumstances>
Related Words little, mean, small; minute, petty; jerkwater, one-horse, second-class, second-rate, two-bit; associate, auxiliary, secondary, subsidiary
6
of low quality <inferior chocolate candy that no serious chocolate lover would think of eating>
Synonyms bad, bargain-basement, bum, cheapjack, cheesy, coarse, common, crappy [slang], cut-rate, el cheapo, execrable, gimcrack, inferior, junky, lousy, low-grade, low-rent, mediocre, miserable, poor, rotten, rubbishy, schlock (or schlocky also shlock or shlocky), second-rate, shoddy, sleazy, terrible, trashy, trumpery, wretched
Related Words useless, valueless, worthless; indifferent, lackluster, second-class; brummagem, flashy, garish, gaudy, glitzy, kitsch, kitschy, meretricious, ostentatious, showy, splashy, swank (or swanky), tawdry; seedy, shabby, tacky; counterfeit, fake, phony (also phoney), sham; supercheap, ultracheap
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