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:
Centennial was at a severe disadvantage by not having two potential starters available on its offensive line because of injuries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
He also said the "Neet problem is grounded in social disadvantage" and highlighted higher rates among certain groups, including young people who:
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
The U.S. competes at a disadvantage because it has no federal film and TV incentives, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
With this economic success, Ms. Kaushal says, has come a growing counternarrative that challenges “the constant refrain in the American media that associates Black individuals with disadvantage and crime.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
He stammered for a moment, deepening his disadvantage, then recovered as best he could.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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
Zuckerberg also wrote that one of the U.S.’s current disadvantages in its race against China to develop superintelligent computer systems is the difficulty of building infrastructure stateside.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 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
There were also several distinct disadvantages: I had no food, no water, no place to relieve myself, and no bed to sleep in.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
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
Cambridge said his hiring would help address underrepresentation of people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Word of the impending changes are raising anxiety for California advocates, providers and families who rely on the early education program and are concerned about future access to disadvantaged children.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Academics would have violated their generation’s ideal of openness if they had said that their schools couldn’t accommodate disadvantaged Americans.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Dr Eleanor Drage, a senior researcher at the University of Cambridge, said concerns about AI disadvantaging women in recruitment are "very justified".
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
A unit of SpaceX is suing Apple for disadvantaging its AI app, and the company is now prototyping its own smartphone-like AI device.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
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
A Stellantis spokeswoman noted that the company has said it wants an agreement “that fairly rewards our workforce for their contribution to our success, without significantly disadvantaging Stellantis against our nonunion competitors.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 5, 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.
