disadvantage
Americannoun
-
disadvantages
plural
-
absence or deprivation of advantage or equality.
- Synonyms:
- hindrance, inconvenience, drawback
-
the state or an instance of being in an unfavorable circumstance or condition.
to be at a disadvantage.
-
something that puts one in an unfavorable position or condition.
His bad temper is a disadvantage.
-
injury to interest, reputation, credit, profit, etc.; loss.
Your behavior is a disadvantage to your family's good name.
verb (used with object)
-
disadvantages,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disadvantaged,
past participle, past
-
disadvantaging
present participle
noun
-
an unfavourable circumstance, state of affairs, thing, person, etc
-
injury, loss, or detriment
-
an unfavourable condition or situation (esp in the phrase at a disadvantage )
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disadvantagesimple
-
disadvantagessimple
-
have disadvantagedperfect
-
has disadvantagedperfect
-
am disadvantagingprogressive
-
are disadvantagingprogressive
-
is disadvantagingprogressive
-
have been disadvantagingperfect progressive
-
has been disadvantagingperfect progressive
Past
-
disadvantagedsimple
-
had disadvantagedperfect
-
was disadvantagingprogressive
-
were disadvantagingprogressive
-
had been disadvantagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disadvantage
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English disavauntage, from Anglo-French; Old French desavantage; equivalent to dis- 1 + advantage
Explanation
A piece of bad luck or a less favorable position is a disadvantage. If you are trying to run a fifty-yard dash in flip flops when everyone else has on running shoes, you'll be at a disadvantage. It's harder to be successful when you start with a disadvantage. One kind of disadvantage is being born into a poor family — it's a struggle for a child in poverty to do well in school, attend college, or end up with a well-paying job. A disadvantage is the opposite of an advantage, a lucky or favorable circumstance. At the root of both words is the Old French avant, "at the front."
Vocabulary lists containing disadvantage
STAAR Grade 6 Reading: Informational Text
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Lesson 1
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Week 5: New Technology
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
These associations remained after the researchers accounted for other factors that could have influenced the results, including childhood cognitive ability, education level and childhood disadvantage.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026
Most people see renting as a disadvantage, Leung said, but “renting below our means allowed us to save a lot.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said the regional gaps were driven by "persistent long-term disadvantage".
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
The cap also puts broadcasters at a disadvantage compared to cable networks, streamers and Big Tech.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
A wise ruler, therefore, cannot and should not keep his word when such an observance would be to his disadvantage, and when the reasons that caused him to make a promise are removed.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
The disadvantages of Broadcom’s AI-chip strategy are also coming into sharper focus as the financial capacity of the healthiest tech companies gets stretched.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Are there tax advantages or disadvantages to leaving my assets directly to charities?
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
In theory, natural selection might be expected to gradually remove traits that produce such disadvantages.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
It said the school leaned on how applicants answered “hardship” questions — which ask students how they overcame disadvantages — as a proxy for race.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Prudence consists in knowing how to recognize the nature of disadvantages, and how to choose the least sorry one as good.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
He said: "It does nothing to address the chronic underfunding that has disadvantaged policing in Cleveland for years."
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
He added, “An attitude at the negotiation table that Canada is a subsidiary of the United States, the Canadian industry is going to be disadvantaged relative to American industry…That’s not something we’re going to accept.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
In Gamper's view, women should not be financially disadvantaged because of their anatomy or because they need cubicles for safety reasons, for example.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
A spokesperson for the DfE said a new PE Partnership Network would help close the gap seen by disadvantaged children.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
That day, I moved very far from the disadvantaged child I had been only days earlier.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
He also argued that ranking applicants by SAT scores ends up disadvantaging high-achieving low-income, first-generation and underrepresented minorities.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
This arrangement allows students at the top of the curve to distinguish themselves, while not disadvantaging the majority of those who earn a “P.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 23, 2025
Ms Moore joins a growing list of headteachers who have spoken out about how school budgets are disadvantaging pupils from low income households.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2024
Also, many state guidelines were designed decades ago to benefit victims who would make the best witnesses, disadvantaging people with criminal histories, among others.
From Seattle Times ● May 17, 2023
Under the planned British law, the CMA will be able to tailor rules for tech companies that meet it threshold to stop them unfairly disadvantaging smaller businesses and consumers.
From Reuters ● Apr. 24, 2023
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
