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
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
But it wouldn’t necessarily cost that much more money, and it would level the playing field for those who—through no fault of their own—have been dealt a big disadvantage by the educational system.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
But financial advisers are starting to be more honest about owning’s disadvantages too.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
"Despite tip-fatigue, I do not think tipping is going to be eliminated on widescale anytime soon because the economic disadvantages of eliminating tipping outweigh the advantages," says Lynn.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 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
Among a host of grievances, including anticorruption enforcement and barriers to U.S. ethanol imports, Washington argues that PIX has become so ubiquitous in Brazil it unfairly disadvantages U.S. payment companies such as Visa and Mastercard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 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
Much of her career was spent supporting children from disadvantaged backgrounds and encouraging them to believe in their own potential.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
He said: "It does nothing to address the chronic underfunding that has disadvantaged policing in Cleveland for years."
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 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
Advocates viewed Baker’s proposal as weaker on broadband access provisions too, including commitments to provide low-cost internet for disadvantaged residents and communities that lack service.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 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
EU officials rejected that argument, saying the measures are necessary to prevent dominant platforms from disadvantaging rivals.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 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
Like the others, the White House version suggests numerous practices that developers and users of AI software should voluntarily follow to prevent the technology from unfairly disadvantaging people.
From Reuters ● Oct. 4, 2022
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.
