subordinate
placed in or belonging to a lower order or rank.
of less importance; secondary.
subject to or under the authority of a superior.
subservient or inferior.
Grammar.
acting as a modifier, as when I finished, which is subordinate to They were glad in They were glad when I finished.
noting or pertaining to a subordinating conjunction.
Obsolete. submissive.
a subordinate person or thing.
to place in a lower order or rank.
to make secondary (usually followed by to): to subordinate work to pleasure.
to make subject, subservient, or dependent (usually followed by to): to subordinate passion to reason.
Origin of subordinate
1Other words for subordinate
Opposites for subordinate
Other words from subordinate
- sub·or·di·nate·ly, adverb
- sub·or·di·nate·ness, noun
- sub·or·di·na·tion, sub·or·di·na·cy [suh-bawr-dn-uh-see], /səˈbɔr dn ə si/, noun
- sub·or·di·na·tive [suh-bawr-dn-ey-tiv, -bawr-dn-uh-], /səˈbɔr dnˌeɪ tɪv, -ˈbɔr dn ə-/, adjective
- non·sub·or·di·nate, adjective
- non·sub·or·di·nat·ing, adjective
- pre·sub·or·di·nate, verb (used with object), pre·sub·or·di·nat·ed, pre·sub·or·di·nat·ing.
- self-sub·or·di·nat·ing, adjective
- un·sub·or·di·nate, adjective
- un·sub·or·di·na·tive, adjective
Words Nearby subordinate
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use subordinate in a sentence
Messonnier has told colleagues that, not being a virologist or laboratory specialist, she relied on subordinates with greater subject-matter expertise.
The CDC’s failed race against covid-19: A threat underestimated and a test overcomplicated | David Willman | December 26, 2020 | Washington PostBecause my parents had the same kind of job, I never considered one of their careers as subordinate to the other.
Catherine Dulac Finds Brain Circuitry Behind Sex-Specific Behaviors | Claudia Dreifus | December 14, 2020 | Quanta MagazinePichai quietly withdrew from the board in 2018 and installed a Google subordinate in his place.
Magic Leap tried to create an alternate reality. Its founder was already in one | Verne Kopytoff | September 26, 2020 | FortuneDistill it down, and Greenlight is a way for parents to move money from one account to a subordinate—a role that several money-transfer services already fulfill with Square’s Cash App and PayPal’s Venmo.
Same-sex unions would not have opted into the pattern of marriage, which was a relationship, a dominant and a subordinate relationship.
‘Skim milk’ marriages not enough: Ginsburg remembered as LGBTQ ally | Chris Johnson | September 21, 2020 | Washington Blade
That is where the subordinate gangs like Big Hazard come in.
The Mexican Mafia Is the Daddy of All Street Gangs | Seth Ferranti | December 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIndeed, the committee is composed of pastors who are subordinate to Driscoll and were not elected by their fellow pastors.
Maria Zhang was sued by a female subordinate who claimed she was forced to have sex with her to keep her job.
Female Yahoo Exec Accused of Sex Abuse Fires Back | Nina Strochlic | July 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTech PR firm OpenCommunications was hit with claims that its CEO made unwelcome advances toward a subordinate.
Yahoo’s Accused Sexual Harasser Asked Women to Wear More Skirts at Work | Olivia Nuzzi | July 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe individual, even if royal, was subordinate to a larger group.
Virgin Sacrifice and the Meaning of the Parthenon | Nick Romeo | February 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBessires was included because he would never win it at any later date, but his doglike devotion made him a priceless subordinate.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonSo far Murat had always held subordinate commands; his great ambition was to become the commander-in-chief of an independent army.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonIn 1800 Massna took his trusty subordinate with him to Italy as lieutenant-general of the centre of the army.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonAn appeal by a member of a subordinate lodge from a vote of expulsion does not abate by his death while the appeal is pending.
Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman | Albert Sidney BollesOn the following day he was deprived of his office, and degraded to the rank of subordinate to a new steward.
A Woman's Journey Round the World | Ida Pfeiffer
British Dictionary definitions for subordinate
of lesser order or importance
under the authority or control of another: a subordinate functionary
a person or thing that is subordinate
to put in a lower rank or position (than)
to make subservient: to subordinate mind to heart
Origin of subordinate
1Derived forms of subordinate
- subordinately, adverb
- subordination or subordinateness, noun
- subordinative, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse