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superior

[suh-peer-ee-er, soo-]

||

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR superior ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

higher in station, rank, degree, importance, etc.: a superior officer.

above the average in excellence, merit, intelligence, etc.: superior math students.

of higher grade or quality: superior merchandise.

greater in quantity or amount: superior numbers.

showing a consciousness or feeling of being better than or above others: superior airs.

not yielding or susceptible (usually followed by to): to be superior to temptation.

higher in place or position: We moved our camp to superior ground.

Botany.

situated above some other organ.
(of a calyx) seeming to originate from the top of the ovary.
(of an ovary) free from the calyx.

Anatomy. (of an organ or part)

higher in place or position; situated above another.
toward the head.Compare inferior(def 7).

Printing. written or printed high on a line of text, as the “2” in a2b; superscript.Compare inferior(def 9).

noun

one superior to another.

Also called superscript. Printing. a superior letter, number, or symbol.Compare inferior(def 11).

Ecclesiastical. the head of a monastery, convent, or the like.

Origin of superior

1350–1400; Middle English (adj.) < Latin, equivalent to super(us) situated above (adj. derivative of super; see super-) + -ior comparative suffix; see -er⁴

Related formssu·pe·ri·or·ly, adverbqua·si-su·pe·ri·or, adjectiveun·su·pe·ri·or, adjectiveun·su·pe·ri·or·ly, adverb

Synonyms for superior

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR superior ON THESAURUS.COM

2. excellent, distinguished, unrivaled, first-rate, matchless. 5. haughty, arrogant, snobbish.

Superior

[suh-peer-ee-er, soo-]

noun

Lake, a lake in the N central United States and S Canada: the northernmost of the Great Lakes; the largest body of fresh water in the world. 350 miles (564 km) long; 31,820 sq. mi. (82,415 sq. km); greatest depth, 1290 feet (393 meters); 602 feet (183 meters) above sea level.

a port in NW Wisconsin, on Lake Superior.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for superior

first-rate, remarkable, exceptional, admirable, good, superhuman, preferable, ruler, manager, principal, supervisor, boss, exclusive, major, premium, expert, dandy, over, primary, choice

Examples from the Web for superior

Contemporary Examples of superior

Hitchcock sends the script--unread--to Thom Mount and his superior, Ned Tanen.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days
David Freeman
December 13, 2014
The essence of nearly every Disney film is that women need saving, preferably by a man from a superior social and economic class.
Sexism Begins in the Toy Aisle
Nancy Kaffer
November 29, 2014
Virginia Woolf loved Wuthering Heights and considered Emily Brontë superior to her sister Charlotte.
The Birth of the Novel
Nick Romeo
November 27, 2014
Never the less, Drone Boning is by far the superior production.
Anatomy of a Drone Porn: ‘Drone Boning’ Makes Sex Look Like Art
Aurora Snow
November 8, 2014
The attitude of the local colleagues at first puzzled us, and then made us snicker in a superior way.
The Stacks: H.L. Mencken on the 1904 Baltimore Fire
H.L. Mencken
October 4, 2014

Historical Examples of superior

Some other men and a woman were scanning the hoisting machinery with superior looks.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
But Viviette regarded him with a smile--the smile of woman's superior wisdom.
Viviette
William J. Locke
The granite of the mountains is superior to the celebrated Quincy.
The Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, Oregon and California
Brevet Col. J.C. Fremont
Our superior rank places us in the front row of the procession.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus
Jessie Graham Flower
The training by her father, too, had been of a superior kind.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana

British Dictionary definitions for superior

superior

adjective

greater in quality, quantity, etc

of high or extraordinary worth, merit, etc

higher in rank or statusa superior tribunal

displaying a conscious sense of being above or better than others; supercilious

(often postpositive foll by to) not susceptible (to) or influenced (by)

placed higher up; situated further from the base

astronomy

(of a planet) having an orbit further from the sun than the orbit of the earth
(of a conjunction) occurring when the sun lies between the earth and an inferior planet

(of a plant ovary) situated above the calyx and other floral parts

anatomy (of one part in relation to another) situated above or higher

printing (of a character) written or printed above the line; superscript

noun

a person or thing of greater rank or quality

printing a character set in a superior position

(often capital) the head of a community in a religious order

Derived Formssuperioress, fem nsuperiority (suːˌpɪərɪˈɒrɪtɪ), nounsuperiorly, adverb

Word Origin for superior

C14: from Latin, from superus placed above, from super above

usage

Superior should not be used with than: he is a better (not a superior) poet than his brother; his poetry is superior to (not superior than) his brother's

Superior

noun

Lake Superior a lake in the N central US and S Canada: one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world and westernmost of the Great Lakes. Area: 82 362 sq km (31 800 sq miles)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for superior

adj.

late 14c., "higher in position," from Old French superior, from Latin superiorem (nominative superior) "higher," comparative of superus "situated above, upper," from super "above, over" (see super-). Meaning "higher in rank or dignity" is attested from late 15c.; sense of "of a higher nature or character" is attested from 1530s. Original sense was preserved more strongly in French (cf. les étages supérieur "the upper stories"), and in Lake Superior, a loan-translation of French Lac Supérieur, literally "upper lake" (it has the highest elevation of the five Great Lakes).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

superior in Medicine

superior

[su-pîr′ē-ər]

adj.

Higher than another in rank, station, or authority.

Situated above or directed upward.

Situated nearer the top of the head.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.