superior

views updated Jun 08 2018

su·pe·ri·or / səˈpi(ə)rēər/ • adj. 1. higher in rank, status, or quality: a superior officer it is superior to every other car on the road. ∎  of high standard or quality: superior malt whiskeys. ∎  greater in size or power: deploying superior force. ∎  (superior to) above yielding to or being influenced by: I felt superior to any accusation of anti-Semitism. ∎  having or showing an overly high opinion of oneself; supercilious: that girl was frightfully superior. 2. chiefly Anat. further above or out; higher in position. ∎  (of a letter, figure, or symbol) written or printed above the line. ∎  Astron. (of a planet) having an orbit further from the sun than the earth's. ∎  Bot. (of the ovary of a flower) situated above the sepals and petals.• n. 1. a person or thing superior to another in rank, status, or quality, esp. a colleague in a higher position: obeying their superiors' orders. ∎  the head of a monastery or other religious institution. 2. Printing a superior letter, figure, or symbol.DERIVATIVES: su·pe·ri·or·ly adv. (usu. in sense 2 of the adjective ).

Superior

views updated May 23 2018

SUPERIOR

One who has a right to give orders; belonging to a higher grade.

A superior is someone or something entitled to command, influence, or control. In the judicial system, a superior court has general or extensive jurisdiction, as opposed to an inferior court. A superior court bears a different meaning in different states. In some states, it is a tribunal of intermediate jurisdiction between the trial courts and the chief appellate court; in other states, however, it is the name given to trial courts.

In the law of negligence, a superior force is an uncontrollable and irresistible force that produces results that could not be avoided.

In real property, a holder of a superior estate has an easement, or a nonpossessory interest in land, in an inferior estate.

superior

views updated May 29 2018

superior situated higher XIV; of higher degree or status XV; s. to (†s. than) XVI; sb. XV. — OF. superiour (mod. supérieur) — L. superior, -ōr-, compar. of superus that is above, f. super; see SUPER-, -IOR.
So superiority XVI. — (O)F. or medL.

Superior

views updated May 21 2018

Su·pe·ri·or / səˈpi(ə)rēər/ a port city in northwestern Wisconsin, on Lake Superior, adjacent to Duluth in Minnesota; pop. 27,134.

superior

views updated May 14 2018

superior Describing a structure that is positioned above or higher than another structure in the body. For example, in flowering plants the ovary is described as superior when located above the other organs of the flower (see hypogyny). Compare inferior.

superior

views updated May 17 2018

superior Applied to an ovary when the other organs of the flower are inserted below it. Compare INFERIOR.

superior

views updated May 14 2018

superior (soo-peer-i-er) adj. (in anatomy) situated uppermost in the body in relation to another structure or surface.