SUPERIORITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does superiority mean? 

• SUPERIORITY (noun)
  The noun SUPERIORITY has 4 senses:

1. the quality of being superior

2. the quality of being at a competitive advantage

3. displaying a sense of being better than others

4. the state of excelling or surpassing or going beyond usual limits

  Familiarity information: SUPERIORITY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUPERIORITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of being superior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

high quality; superiority

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

caliber; calibre; quality (a degree or grade of excellence or worth)

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

choiceness; fineness (the quality of being very good indeed)

first class (the highest rank in a classification)

first water (the highest quality gems)

cleverness; ingeniousness; ingenuity (the property of being ingenious)

Antonym:

inferiority (an inferior quality)

Derivation:

superior (of high or superior quality or performance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The quality of being at a competitive advantage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

favorable position; favourable position; superiority

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

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

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

edge (a slight competitive advantage)

inside track (a favorable position in a competition)

upper hand; whip hand (position of advantage and control)

Derivation:

superior (having a higher rank)

superior (of or characteristic of high rank or importance)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Displaying a sense of being better than others

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

he hated the white man's superiority and condescension

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

arrogance; haughtiness; hauteur; high-handedness; lordliness (overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The state of excelling or surpassing or going beyond usual limits

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

superiority; transcendence; transcendency

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

domination; mastery; supremacy (power to dominate or defeat)

Derivation:

superior ((sometimes followed by 'to') not subject to or influenced by)

 Context examples 

There was no superiority of manner, accomplishment, or understanding.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

She had no sense of superiority then.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The superiority of these man-animals increased with every moment.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

His face, his manner, the large waves and sweeps of his white hands, his easy air of superiority, his fantastic fashion of talk, all filled me with interest and wonder.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But pride—where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Of course, he smiled darkly at their delusion, but passed it by with the sad superiority of one who knew that his fidelity like his love was unalterable.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

They had been all solitary, helpless, and forlorn alike; and now the arrival of the others only established her superiority in wretchedness.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

“I have sometimes thought,” said Catherine, doubtingly, “whether ladies do write so much better letters than gentlemen! That is—I should not think the superiority was always on our side.”

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Miss Ingram, I am sure you will not fail in evincing superiority to idle terrors.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I was proud that it did mean something to me, and for the first time in a weary while I was convincingly conscious of a superiority over him.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)