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• superior
  superior

  adjective

  higher in station, rank, degree, importance, etc..
• Superior
  Superior

  noun

  Lake Superior, a lake in the north central United States and southern Canada: the northernmost of the Great Lakes; the largest body of fresh water in the world. 350 miles (564 kilometers) long; 31,820 square miles (82,415 square kilometers); greatest depth, 1,290 feet (393 meters); 602 feet (183 meters) above sea level.

superior

¹ American  

[suh-peer-ee-er, soo-] / səˈpɪər i ər, sʊ- /

adjective

1. higher in station, rank, degree, importance, etc..

   a superior officer.

2. above the average in excellence, merit, intelligence, etc..

   superior math students.

   Synonyms:

   matchless, first-rate, unrivaled, distinguished, excellent

3. of higher grade or quality.

   superior merchandise.

4. greater in quantity or amount.

   superior numbers.

5. showing a consciousness or feeling of being better than or above others.

   superior airs.

   Synonyms:

   snobbish, arrogant, haughty

6. not yielding or susceptible (usually followed byto ).

   to be superior to temptation.

7. higher in place or position.

   We moved our camp to superior ground.

8. Botany.

   1. situated above some other organ.

   2. (of a calyx) seeming to originate from the top of the ovary.

   3. (of an ovary) free from the calyx.

9. Anatomy. (of an organ or part)

   1. higher in place or position; situated above another.

   2. toward the head.

10. Printing. written or printed high on a line of text, as the “2” in a 2 b; superscript.

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noun

• superiors
  plural

1. one superior to another.

2. Also called superscript. Printing. a superior letter, number, or symbol.

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

Superior ² American  

[suh-peer-ee-er, soo-] / səˈpɪər i ər, sʊ- /

noun

1. Lake Superior, a lake in the north central United States and southern Canada: the northernmost of the Great Lakes; the largest body of fresh water in the world. 350 miles (564 kilometers) long; 31,820 square miles (82,415 square kilometers); greatest depth, 1,290 feet (393 meters); 602 feet (183 meters) above sea level.

2. a port in northwestern Wisconsin, on Lake Superior.

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superior ¹ British  

/ suːˈpɪərɪə /

adjective

1. greater in quality, quantity, etc

2. of high or extraordinary worth, merit, etc

3. higher in rank or status

   a superior tribunal

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

5. not susceptible (to) or influenced (by)

6. placed higher up; situated further from the base

7. astronomy

   1. (of a planet) having an orbit further from the sun than the orbit of the earth

   2. (of a conjunction) occurring when the sun lies between the earth and an inferior planet

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

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

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

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noun

1. a person or thing of greater rank or quality

2. printing a character set in a superior position

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

Superior ² British  

/ suːˈpɪərɪə, sjuː- /

noun

1. 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)

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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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• superioress
  noun
• superiority
  noun
• quasi-superior
  adjective
• unsuperior
  adjective
• superiorly
  adverb
• unsuperiorly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• superiors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of superior¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (adjective), from Latin, equivalent to super(us) “situated above” (adjective derivative of super; see super-) + -ior, comparative suffix; see -er ⁴

Origin of Superior²

First recorded in 1780–85; translation of French Lac Supérieur “Upper Lake” (i.e., the lake above Lake Huron), or “Higher Lake” (in elevation above sea level)

Explanation

The salesman boasted to his customer that the $1 million car was well worth the price because it was far superior, meaning of higher quality, to any car that had come before it. This car, the salesman bragged, could fly. Superior comes from the Latin word meaning above and it literally means something that is above others in quality or status. Sometimes being superior can be perceived as a negative, as in the woman who acts superior to all of her friends, having a high opinion of herself just because she has millions of dollars in the bank after winning the lottery.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

superior Superior superiors

“Plenty of domestic brands now offer superior technology at a fraction of the cost,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

This was the first time Russell has produced a weekend like this all year, when he was simply superior.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

His mother, in turn, had been introduced to the store by her grandmother, Georgia Bullock, a decades-long Pasadena resident and the first woman to serve as a municipal and superior court judge in California.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

His flip-flopping between military employment and diplomatic interruptions caused our superior military advantage to wither.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

What she was, must be uncertain; but who she was, might be found out; and setting aside the 10,000 l., it did not appear that she was at all Harriet’s superior.

From "Emma" by Jane Austen

Los Angeles County voters face four runoff contests for Superior Court seats on Nov. 3, deciding who will preside over criminal and civil cases across the region.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman agreed to dismiss the criminal case against David Hearn with prejudice on Thursday, prohibiting the federal government from reviving the felony charge against him.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

The next court hearing is scheduled for 29 September at Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

County Superior Court data found that just 21% of requests for restraining orders are granted.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Interstate 35 goes from the Mexican border all the way up to Lake Superior, and some of the heaviest traffic is along the two-hundred-fifty-mile stretch between San Antonio and Dallas.

From "Small Steps" by Louis Sachar

As they continued to gather intelligence from Kuzichkin, Mr. McCredie and his superiors knew that they had to be extremely cautious.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Hochman said Flores simply could have taken notes on the inappropriate comments and turned them in to superiors or the independent inspector general, which strikes me as either sweetly naive or disingenuous.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

First-year mids, Crew said, are actually required to read two news articles daily, and to discuss them with their superiors.

From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026

Those officers "could either on their own initiative or following orders from their superiors" help "facilitate an escape that would make it impossible for the accused to be available to justice", he wrote.

From Barron's ● Jun. 20, 2026

“I’ll make sure my superiors know it was you who helped us,” Fox continued.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

Related Words

• admirable
• exceptional
• first-rate
• good
• high-caliber
• preferable
• remarkable
• superhuman