superiority
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of superiority
First recorded in 1520–30, superiority is from the Medieval Latin word superiōritāt- (stem of superiōritās ). See superior, -ity
Explanation
Superiority is the quality of being better than or superior to someone else. Your superiority in the sack race won you a first-place ribbon. Superiority refers to the best. It’s better than, above, greater than everything else, whether there’s something to compare it to — the superiority of one ice cream flavor over another — or whether it just describes a general state of high quality — the superiority of the University library. Of course, sometimes superiority is all in your head; in that case, some people might say you have a superiority complex, which means that you think you’re better than everyone else!
Vocabulary lists containing superiority
Power Prefix: super-
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Trumps
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"Marita's Bargain," Vocabulary from the essay
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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:
What is obvious is Matisse’s superiority; little wonder that he was attacked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
For this goal, we also saw the other key area of superiority from Spain, which was around the French full-backs.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
The ministry accused France of trying "to conceal Israeli technological superiority from the world".
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
The Lionesses needed Iceland to do them a favour in the other group match, but Spain showed their superiority in Reykjavik with a thumping 6-1 victory.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
Given our father’s characteristic air of superiority, I secretly expected him to live in a manor house surrounded by grounds and serviced by a liveried staff.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
"Obviously none of the other materials . . . would produce a comb possessing the many excellent qualities and inherent superiorities of a comb made of celluloid," Hyatt wrote in one of his patent applications.
From Scientific American ● May 29, 2011
Adding up what is known of most of these factors, the margins, evident superiorities, palpable weaknesses of the three belligerent air forces stack up somewhat as follows.
From Time Magazine Archive
All of the expected prestige names turn up at the top, but the study is nonetheless full of fascinating comparisons and subtle superiorities.
From Time Magazine Archive
The superiorities of his view of the future life over those which it seeks to supplant are weighty and numerous.
From The Destiny of the Soul A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life by Alger, William Rounseville
He had in a high degree that which another friend of mine describes as the business instinct—an instinct which experience tells him is quite special, and may or may not accompany other superiorities....
From The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VI (of X)—Great Britain and Ireland IV by Halsey, Francis W. (Francis Whiting)
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.
