superior
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /suːˈpɪə.ɹi.ə/
ipa: /sʊˈpɪɹ.i.ɚ/
ipa: /sə-/
ipa: /sʉːˈpɪə.ɹiː.ə/
ipa: /sə-/
rhymes: -ɪəɹiə(ɹ)
Forms: form: superiour
Etymology: From Middle English, borrowed from Old French superiour, from Latin superior (“higher, upper”).
Senses: examples: text: Rebecca had always thought shorts were far superior to pants, as they didn't constantly make her legs itch.
text: There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs,[…], and all these articles[…] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
text: Additionally, reliability proved to be superior to NBL's design, with an average of 120,000 miles run during 1959.
ref: 2022 January 12, David Clough, “From Germany with love: a Warship perspective”, in RAIL, number 948, page 46:
glosses: Higher in rank, status, or quality.
examples: text: She always treated (her husband) as a boy, which he was, and as a fool, which he was not, thinking herself so immeasurably superior to him that she neglected opportunity after opportunity of establishing her rule.
ref: 1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread, chapter 3
glosses: Higher in rank, status, or quality.
Of high standard or quality.
glosses: Higher in rank, status, or quality.
Greater in size or power.
examples: text: There is not in earth a spectacle more worthy […]than a brave man superior to his sufferings.
ref: 1711 December 12 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SATURDAY, December 1, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 237; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
glosses: Higher in rank, status, or quality.
Beyond the power or influence of; too great or firm to be subdued or affected by.
qualifier: superior to
glosses: Higher in rank, status, or quality.
Greater or better than average.
synonyms: extraordinary
glosses: Courageously or serenely indifferent (as to something painful or disheartening).
examples: text: a superior figure or letter
topics: media
publishing
typography
glosses: Printed in superscript.
examples: text: the superior jaw; the superior part of an image
glosses: Located above or out; higher in position.
topics: anatomy
medicine
sciences
glosses: Located above or out; higher in position.
Located above or higher, a direction that in humans corresponds to cephalad.
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: Located above or out; higher in position.
(of a calyx) Above the ovary; said of parts of the flower which, although normally below the ovary, adhere to it, and so appear to originate from its upper part.
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: Located above or out; higher in position.
(of an ovary) Above and free from the other floral organs.
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: Located above or out; higher in position.
Belonging to the part of an axillary flower which is toward the main stem.
synonyms: posterior
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: Located above or out; higher in position.
(of the radicle) Pointing toward the apex of the fruit.
synonyms: ascending
examples: text: A genus is superior to a species.
topics: biology
natural-sciences
taxonomy
glosses: More comprehensive.
synonyms: supercilious
glosses: Affecting or assuming an air of superiority.
topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
glosses: Having a wider orbit around the Sun; typically with respect to the Earth.
raw_tags: of a planet in the Solar System
Synonyms: word: crowning
word: foremost
word: greater
word: higher
word: major
word: paramount
word: preeminent
word: superior
word: supreme
word: utmost
word: vaulting
Hypernyms: word: unequal
Coordinate terms: noninferior
Derived terms: anterior superior alveolar artery
anterior superior iliac spine
anterosuperior
father superior
fultura superior
general superior
highly superior autobiographical memory
Lake Superior
laterosuperior
limit superior
mediosuperior
mother superior
Mother Superior
nonsuperior
Peover Superior
posterior superior alveolar artery
posterosuperior
superior alveolar nerve
superior auricular muscle
superior autobiographical memory
superior carotid triangle
superior cerebellar artery
superior cervical ganglion
superior colliculus
superior court
superioress
superior general
superior good
superior highly composite number
superior hypophyseal artery
superiority
superiorization
superior landlord
superior laryngeal artery
superior laryngeal nerve
superior lease
superior letter
superiorly
superior mesenteric artery
superior mesenteric artery syndrome
superior mesenteric vein
superiormost
superior nasal concha
superiorness
superior oblique
superior oblique muscle
superior olivary complex
superior orbital fissure
superior petrosal sinus
superior pharyngeal constrictor
superior planet
superior rectus
superior sagittal sinus
superiorship
superior tarsal
superior tarsal muscle
superior tenant
superior thyroid artery
superior vena cava
supero-
temporosuperior
Related terms: auricularis superior
Homo superior
levator labii superioris
levator labii superioris alaeque nasi
levator palpebrae superioris
respondeat superior