superiority
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of superiority
First recorded in 1520–30, superiority is from the Medieval Latin word superiōritāt- (stem of superiōritās ). See superior, -ity
Explanation
Superiority is the quality of being better than or superior to someone else. Your superiority in the sack race won you a first-place ribbon. Superiority refers to the best. It’s better than, above, greater than everything else, whether there’s something to compare it to — the superiority of one ice cream flavor over another — or whether it just describes a general state of high quality — the superiority of the University library. Of course, sometimes superiority is all in your head; in that case, some people might say you have a superiority complex, which means that you think you’re better than everyone else!
Vocabulary lists containing superiority
Power Prefix: super-
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Trumps
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"Marita's Bargain," Vocabulary from the essay
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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:
What is obvious is Matisse’s superiority; little wonder that he was attacked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
“You have a feeling of superiority in a car like this,” he said, a man clearly enjoying his work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
For this goal, we also saw the other key area of superiority from Spain, which was around the French full-backs.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Fiji demonstrated their attacking superiority, which included an outrageous between-the-legs pass from full-back Salesi Rayasi, but wing Selestino Ravutaumada failed to ground the ball under pressure from Blair Murray.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
"Guddat, why are you singing English songs?" says the leader, with an air of superiority.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
"Obviously none of the other materials . . . would produce a comb possessing the many excellent qualities and inherent superiorities of a comb made of celluloid," Hyatt wrote in one of his patent applications.
From Scientific American ● May 29, 2011
All of the expected prestige names turn up at the top, but the study is nonetheless full of fascinating comparisons and subtle superiorities.
From Time Magazine Archive
Adding up what is known of most of these factors, the margins, evident superiorities, palpable weaknesses of the three belligerent air forces stack up somewhat as follows.
From Time Magazine Archive
Only a few can understand,—none measure—and few will willingly adore, superiorities in other things; but everybody can understand money, everybody can count it, and most will worship it.
From The Crown of Wild Olive also Munera Pulveris; Pre-Raphaelitism; Aratra Pentelici; The Ethics of the Dust; Fiction, Fair and Foul; The Elements of Drawing by Ruskin, John
Justly irritated by such superiorities as these, the women of the Jago were ill-disposed to brook another: which was, that Hannah Perrott had been married in church.
From A Child of the Jago by Morrison, Arthur
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.
