DISADVANTAGE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does disadvantage mean? 

• DISADVANTAGE (noun)
  The noun DISADVANTAGE has 1 sense:

1. the quality of having an inferior or less favorable position

  Familiarity information: DISADVANTAGE used as a noun is very rare.

• DISADVANTAGE (verb)
  The verb DISADVANTAGE has 1 sense:

1. put at a disadvantage; hinder, harm

  Familiarity information: DISADVANTAGE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DISADVANTAGE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of having an inferior or less favorable position

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("disadvantage" is a kind of...):

liability (the quality of being something that holds you back)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "disadvantage"):

unfavorableness; unfavourableness (the quality of not being encouraging or indicative of success)

limitation (the quality of being limited or restricted)

defect; shortcoming (a failing or deficiency)

awkwardness; nuisance value (the quality of an embarrassing situation)

deprivation; loss (the disadvantage that results from losing something)

drawback (the quality of being a hindrance)

penalty (the disadvantage or painful consequences of an action or condition)

inferiority; unfavorable position (the quality of being a competitive disadvantage)

inexpedience; inexpediency (the quality of being unsuited to the end in view)

unprofitability; unprofitableness (the quality of affording no gain or no benefit or no profit)

Antonym:

advantage (the quality of having a superior or more favorable position)

Derivation:

disadvantage (put at a disadvantage; hinder, harm)

disadvantageous (involving or creating circumstances detrimental to success or effectiveness)

• DISADVANTAGE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they disadvantage    ... he / she / it disadvantages   
Past simple: disadvantaged   
Past participle: disadvantaged   
-ing form: disadvantaging   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put at a disadvantage; hinder, harm

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

disadvantage; disfavor; disfavour

Context example:

This rule clearly disadvantages me

Hypernyms (to "disadvantage" is one way to...):

discriminate; separate; single out (treat differently on the basis of sex or race)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "disadvantage"):

hamper; handicap; hinder (put at a disadvantage)

prejudice (disadvantage by prejudice)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Antonym:

advantage (give an advantage to)

Derivation:

disadvantage (the quality of having an inferior or less favorable position)

 Context examples 

It may perhaps be pleasant, replied Charlotte, to be able to impose on the public in such a case; but it is sometimes a disadvantage to be so very guarded.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I am sure, my poor mother went on, at a grievous disadvantage, and with many tears, I don't want anybody to go.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

How, in all the peculiar disadvantages of their respective situations, would he ever learn of her real sentiments?

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Under the disadvantages, indeed, which both have had, is it not wonderful that they should be what they are?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I leave my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to you.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The disadvantages of method are hepatic first pass metabolism and enzymatic degradation of the drug within the gastrointestinal tract.

(Oral Route of Administration, NCI Thesaurus)

However, the disadvantage is that it can lead to loss of information from the DNA because of resection of the broken ends.

(Nonhomologous DNA End Joining, NCI Thesaurus)

Damage of healthy intestinal cells is the main disadvantage of radiotherapy leading to the discontinuation and failure of efficient cancer treatment, potentially causing quick tumor recurrence.

(New Way Discovered for Protecting against High-Dose Radiation Damage, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Though WE have not known him long, he is no stranger in this part of the world; and who has ever spoken to his disadvantage?

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

This, researchers say, would have put dinosaurs at a disadvantage over animals with quicker-hatching eggs and their mammalian competitors.

(Slow-cooking dinosaur eggs may have contributed to extinction, Wikinews)