SUBNORMAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does subnormal mean? 

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

1. a person of less than normal intelligence

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

• SUBNORMAL (adjective)
  The adjective SUBNORMAL has 1 sense:

1. below normal or average

  Familiarity information: SUBNORMAL used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUBNORMAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person of less than normal intelligence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

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

simple; simpleton (a person lacking intelligence or common sense)

Derivation:

subnormal (below normal or average)

• SUBNORMAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Below normal or average

Context example:

subnormal intelligence

Similar:

abnormal; unnatural (not normal; not typical or usual or regular or conforming to a norm)

Domain category:

statistics (a branch of applied mathematics concerned with the collection and interpretation of quantitative data and the use of probability theory to estimate population parameters)

Derivation:

subnormal (a person of less than normal intelligence)

subnormality (lack of normal development of intellectual capacities)

subnormality (the state of being less than normal (especially with respect to intelligence))

 Context examples 

A finding in which there is a subnormal amount of an enzyme.

(Enzyme Deficiency, NCI Thesaurus)

A disorder, wherein unstable chromosomes have a tendency to break and become rearranged, characterized by microcephaly, stunted growth, subnormal mental development, cafe-au-lait spots, and immunodeficiency.

(Nijmegen Breakage Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)