SUBORDINATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does subordinate mean? 

• SUBORDINATE (noun)
  The noun SUBORDINATE has 2 senses:

1. an assistant subject to the authority or control of another

2. a word that is more specific than a given word

  Familiarity information: SUBORDINATE used as a noun is rare.

• SUBORDINATE (adjective)
  The adjective SUBORDINATE has 3 senses:

1. lower in rank or importance

2. subject or submissive to authority or the control of another

3. (of a clause) unable to stand alone syntactically as a complete sentence

  Familiarity information: SUBORDINATE used as an adjective is uncommon.

• SUBORDINATE (verb)
  The verb SUBORDINATE has 2 senses:

1. rank or order as less important or consider of less value

2. make subordinate, dependent, or subservient

  Familiarity information: SUBORDINATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUBORDINATE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An assistant subject to the authority or control of another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

foot soldier; subordinate; subsidiary; underling

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

assistant; help; helper; supporter (a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose)

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

associate (a person with subordinate membership in a society, institution, or commercial enterprise)

bottom dog (a person of low status)

cog (a subordinate who performs an important but routine function)

man (a male subordinate)

second banana; second fiddle (someone who serves in a subordinate capacity or plays a secondary role)

Derivation:

subordinate (make subordinate, dependent, or subservient)

subordinate (rank or order as less important or consider of less value)

subordinate (lower in rank or importance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A word that is more specific than a given word

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

hyponym; subordinate; subordinate word

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

word (a unit of language that native speakers can identify)

• SUBORDINATE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lower in rank or importance

Synonyms:

low-level; subordinate

Similar:

adjunct; assistant (of or relating to a person who is subordinate to another)

under (lower in rank, power, or authority)

secondary (belonging to a lower class or rank)

associate (having partial rights and privileges or subordinate status)

Also:

subordinate (subject or submissive to authority or the control of another)

inferior (of or characteristic of low rank or importance)

Attribute:

position; status (the relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society)

Antonym:

dominant (exercising influence or control)

Derivation:

subordinate (an assistant subject to the authority or control of another)

subordinateness (secondary importance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Subject or submissive to authority or the control of another

Context example:

a subordinate kingdom

Similar:

feudatory (owing feudal allegiance to or being subject to a sovereign)

ruled (subject to a ruling authority)

dependent; subject (being under the power or sovereignty of another or others)

subservient (compliant and obedient to authority)

Also:

submissive (inclined or willing to submit to orders or wishes of others or showing such inclination)

low-level; subordinate (lower in rank or importance)

Antonym:

insubordinate (not submissive to authority)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(of a clause) unable to stand alone syntactically as a complete sentence

Synonyms:

dependent; subordinate

Context example:

a subordinate (or dependent) clause functions as a noun or adjective or adverb within a sentence

Domain category:

grammar (the branch of linguistics that deals with syntax and morphology (and sometimes also deals with semantics))

• SUBORDINATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they subordinate    ... he / she / it subordinates   
Past simple: subordinated   
Past participle: subordinated   
-ing form: subordinating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Rank or order as less important or consider of less value

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

Art is sometimes subordinated to Science in these schools

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

grade; order; place; range; rank; rate (assign a rank or rating to)

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

outclass (cause to appear in a lower class)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

subordinate (an assistant subject to the authority or control of another)

subordination (the state of being subordinate to something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make subordinate, dependent, or subservient

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

subdue; subordinate

Context example:

Our wishes have to be subordinated to that of our ruler

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

lour; lower (set lower)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

subordinate (an assistant subject to the authority or control of another)

subordination (the act of mastering or subordinating someone)

 Context examples 

Sometimes, an eclipse will “eclipse out” someone from your environment, so you might be told one of your subordinates is leaving.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

All other things he subordinated to love.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Their study shows that dominants live an average of 4.4 years compared to subordinates 2.8 years.

(Breeder meerkats age faster, but their subordinates still die younger, University of Cambridge)

This takes place in the absence of circulating antibody or where antibody plays a subordinate role.

(Cell-Mediated Immunity, NCI Thesaurus)

Accessory, accompanying especially in a subordinate or incidental way, occurring or existing during the same period of time.

(Concomitant, NCI Thesaurus)

A person who is an assistant or subordinate to another professional, e.g. research associate functioning under the general supervision of the appointed investigator.

(Associate, NCI Thesaurus)

Again, of course no subordinate would have dared to do such a thing.

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

What! you are my paid subordinate, are you?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Mycroft draws four hundred and fifty pounds a year, remains a subordinate, has no ambitions of any kind, will receive neither honour nor title, but remains the most indispensable man in the country.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His terror of the gallows drove him continually to commit temporary suicide, and return to his subordinate station of a part instead of a person; but he loathed the necessity, he loathed the despondency into which Jekyll was now fallen, and he resented the dislike with which he was himself regarded.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)