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• superior
  superior

  adjective

  higher in station, rank, degree, importance, etc..
• Superior
  Superior

  noun

  Lake Superior, a lake in the north central United States and southern Canada: the northernmost of the Great Lakes; the largest body of fresh water in the world. 350 miles (564 kilometers) long; 31,820 square miles (82,415 square kilometers); greatest depth, 1,290 feet (393 meters); 602 feet (183 meters) above sea level.

superior

¹ American  

[suh-peer-ee-er, soo-] / səˈpɪər i ər, sʊ- /

adjective

1. higher in station, rank, degree, importance, etc..

   a superior officer.

2. above the average in excellence, merit, intelligence, etc..

   superior math students.

   Synonyms:

   matchless, first-rate, unrivaled, distinguished, excellent

3. of higher grade or quality.

   superior merchandise.

4. greater in quantity or amount.

   superior numbers.

5. showing a consciousness or feeling of being better than or above others.

   superior airs.

   Synonyms:

   snobbish, arrogant, haughty

6. not yielding or susceptible (usually followed byto ).

   to be superior to temptation.

7. higher in place or position.

   We moved our camp to superior ground.

8. Botany.

   1. situated above some other organ.

   2. (of a calyx) seeming to originate from the top of the ovary.

   3. (of an ovary) free from the calyx.

9. Anatomy. (of an organ or part)

   1. higher in place or position; situated above another.

   2. toward the head.

10. Printing. written or printed high on a line of text, as the “2” in a 2 b; superscript.

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noun

• superiors
  plural

1. one superior to another.

2. Also called superscript.  Printing. a superior letter, number, or symbol.

3. Ecclesiastical. the head of a monastery, convent, or the like.

Superior ² American  

[suh-peer-ee-er, soo-] / səˈpɪər i ər, sʊ- /

noun

1. Lake Superior, a lake in the north central United States and southern Canada: the northernmost of the Great Lakes; the largest body of fresh water in the world. 350 miles (564 kilometers) long; 31,820 square miles (82,415 square kilometers); greatest depth, 1,290 feet (393 meters); 602 feet (183 meters) above sea level.

2. a port in northwestern Wisconsin, on Lake Superior.

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superior ¹ British  

/ suːˌpɪərɪˈɒrɪtɪ, suːˈpɪərɪə /

adjective

1. greater in quality, quantity, etc

2. of high or extraordinary worth, merit, etc

3. higher in rank or status

   a superior tribunal

4. displaying a conscious sense of being above or better than others; supercilious

5. not susceptible (to) or influenced (by)

6. placed higher up; situated further from the base

7. astronomy

   1. (of a planet) having an orbit further from the sun than the orbit of the earth

   2. (of a conjunction) occurring when the sun lies between the earth and an inferior planet

8. (of a plant ovary) situated above the calyx and other floral parts

9. anatomy (of one part in relation to another) situated above or higher

10. printing (of a character) written or printed above the line; superscript

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noun

1. a person or thing of greater rank or quality

2. printing a character set in a superior position

3. (often capital) the head of a community in a religious order

Superior ² British  

/ sjuː-, suːˈpɪərɪə /

noun

1. a lake in the N central US and S Canada: one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world and westernmost of the Great Lakes. Area: 82 362 sq km (31 800 sq miles)

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Usage

Superior should not be used with than: he is a better (not a superior ) poet than his brother; his poetry is superior to (not superior than ) his brother's

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• superioress
  noun
• superiority
  noun
• quasi-superior
  adjective
• unsuperior
  adjective
• superiorly
  adverb
• unsuperiorly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• superiors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of superior¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (adjective), from Latin, equivalent to super(us) “situated above” (adjective derivative of super; see super-) + -ior, comparative suffix; see -er ⁴

Origin of Superior²

First recorded in 1780–85; translation of French Lac Supérieur “Upper Lake” (i.e., the lake above Lake Huron), or “Higher Lake” (in elevation above sea level)

Explanation

The salesman boasted to his customer that the $1 million car was well worth the price because it was far superior, meaning of higher quality, to any car that had come before it. This car, the salesman bragged, could fly. Superior comes from the Latin word meaning above and it literally means something that is above others in quality or status. Sometimes being superior can be perceived as a negative, as in the woman who acts superior to all of her friends, having a high opinion of herself just because she has millions of dollars in the bank after winning the lottery.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

superior Superior superiors

Paxton has acknowledged that Talarico’s superior spending has affected the standing of the race.

From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026

To his credit, Statham never attempts to act superior to the material — if anything, he overly commits to its cold tone.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

Aiming for middle-of-the-road returns could still be a compelling strategy if the midcaps produced superior risk-adjusted performance.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

Hodgkinson does, however, have superior championship experience compared to Werro, who clinched her first senior international medal by taking world indoor silver behind the Briton in March.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

But we must avoid the European error; we must not suppose that, because the situation, the ways, the perceptions of black people so radically differed from those of whites, they were racially superior.

From "The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin

Superior torque means the electric versions get stuck less frequently than their diesel-powered counterparts, but photographer and guide Mark Dunsmuir said the real prize is the sound of life on the tundra.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo rather than the people he’d wronged.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge this week denied a request to be diverted into mental health treatment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

She appealed to Connecticut Superior Court, where the same board that previously ruled against her would go on to fight alongside the union to preserve its own ruling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

By 1890, twenty-five-year-old Rondon was a graduate of the Superior War College and an army engineer.

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple

They have the authority to approve loans on their own but aren’t able to decline them without authorization from superiors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

He claimed the department sought to make an example of him because he refused to implicate his superiors in wrongdoing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

First-year mids, Crew said, are actually required to read two news articles daily, and to discuss them with their superiors.

From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026

Those officers "could either on their own initiative or following orders from their superiors" help "facilitate an escape that would make it impossible for the accused to be available to justice", he wrote.

From Barron's ● Jun. 20, 2026

He was complacent and insecure, daring in the administrative stratagems he employed to bring himself to the attention of his superiors and craven in his concern that his schemes might all backfire.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

Related Words

• admirable
• exceptional
• first-rate
• good
• high-caliber
• preferable
• remarkable
• superhuman