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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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:
The experiments revealed that the nightjar's broad wing tips, which likely help it maneuver during slow flight, become a disadvantage as the bird flies faster.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026
Tether voiced concern that its competitors would influence the legislation to disadvantage the company.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Retailers without the capital to invest heavily through a long period of troubleshooting are at a disadvantage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
"Quite often in The Traitors," she says, "that familiarity becomes a disadvantage".
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
Why did he deliberately turn everything to her disadvantage?
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
AI analysis can also speed up military innovation, while autonomous systems offer an asymmetric advantage that can offset manpower disadvantages or compound manpower advantages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
This is their eighth playoff berth in the past nine years, a remarkable achievement considering all of their disadvantages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
The 2025 study also notes the cost and lack of residual protection as important disadvantages of whole structure fumigation.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
But financial advisers are starting to be more honest about owning’s disadvantages too.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 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
"We cannot accept the situation where our communities are disadvantaged simply because of where they live," O'Cofaigh continued.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
Despite investment over the past decade to boost the chances of pupils from these areas, "when you look at the breakdown by school, it's often the most disadvantaged schools that lack resources".
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
"Disadvantaged children attend disadvantaged schools, located in disadvantaged areas," he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Parents and teachers said consumer AI chatbots were fully unblocked for children on their school-issued devices starting last fall in the district, which serves mostly economically disadvantaged students.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
While young minority men with little schooling have always had relatively high rates of incarceration, “before the 1980s the penal system was not a dominant presence in the disadvantaged neighborhoods.”
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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
Greer accused Brazil of disadvantaging American exports by offering lower tariffs to other trade partners.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2025
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
