inferior

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in·fe·ri·or / inˈfi(ə)rēər/ • adj. 1. lower in rank, status, or quality: schooling in inner-city areas was inferior to that in the rest of the country. ∎  of low standard or quality: inferior goods. ∎  Law (of a court or tribunal) able to have its decisions overturned by a higher court. ∎ Econ. denoting goods or services that are in greater demand during a recession than in a boom, e.g., secondhand clothes.2. chiefly Anat. low or lower in position: ulcers located in the inferior and posterior wall of the duodenum. ∎  (of a letter, figure, or symbol) written or printed below the line. ∎  Bot. (of the ovary of a flower) situated below the sepals and enclosed in the receptacle.• n. 1. a person lower than another in rank, status, or ability: her social and intellectual inferiors.2. Printing an inferior letter, figure, or symbol.DERIVATIVES: in·fe·ri·or·ly adv. (in sense 2 of the adjective ).

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