inferiority complex

[ in-feer-ee-awr-i-tee kom-pleks, -or- ]

noun

, Psychology.

1. an intense feeling of inferiority or inadequacy; low self-esteem, sometimes characterized by compensatory behaviors intended to bolster self-confidence. Compare superiority complex ( def ).

inferiority complex

noun

1. psychiatry a disorder arising from the conflict between the desire to be noticed and the fear of being humiliated, characterized by aggressiveness or withdrawal into oneself

Word History and Origins

Origin of inferiority complex¹

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

Bobby had a major inferiority complex while he was married to Whitney—and was jealous of Kevin Costner and Denzel Washington.

From The Daily Beast

“We have to get rid of our inferiority complex and free ourselves from the West,” he declared.

From The Daily Beast

I suppose it is inferiority complex yet some of the best books in English are translations.

From The Daily Beast

Such a move will acknowledge its rising power and mollify its inferiority complex.

From The Daily Beast

If you lived out here long enough, Im afraid you would have a bad inferiority complex.

From Project Gutenberg

I yielded to an instinct for deprecative horse-play, one of my worst faults, begot of an inferiority-complex.

From Project Gutenberg

This superintendent must have a terrible inferiority complex, which that disfiguring scar certainly didn't help.

From Project Gutenberg

For how much longer will man be a slave to his inferiority complex with regard to his own rational capacities?

From Project Gutenberg

It occupied all her thoughts; and in the process she soon developed what would now be dubbed a marked inferiority-complex.

From Project Gutenberg