Inferior vs Infer - What's the difference?
inferior | infer |
of lower quality
* Dryden
of lower rank
located below
# (typography) Printed in subscript.
(botany) Situated below some other organ; said of a calyx when free from the ovary, and therefore below it, or of an ovary with an adherent and therefore inferior calyx.
(botany) On the side of a flower which is next to the bract; anterior.
(astronomy) Nearer to the Sun than the Earth is.
(astronomy) Below the horizon.
a person of lower stature to another
To introduce (something) as a reasoned conclusion; to conclude by reasoning or deduction, as from premises or evidence.
* 2010 , "Keep calm, but don't carry on", The Economist , 7 Oct 2010:
To lead to (something) as a consequence; to imply. (Now often considered incorrect, especially with a person as subject.)
*, II.3:
* Shakespeare
* Sir Thomas More
(obsolete) To cause, inflict (something) (upon) or (to) someone.
* 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.8:
(obsolete) To introduce (a subject) in speaking, writing etc.; to bring in.
* Shakespeare
As an adjective inferior
is of lower quality.As a noun inferior
is a person of lower stature to another.As a verb infer is
to introduce (something) as a reasoned conclusion; to conclude by reasoning or deduction, as from premises or evidence.inferior
English
Alternative forms
* inferiour (obsolete)Adjective
(en adjective)- Anna had always felt inferior to her brother due to poor school grades.
- Whether they are equal or inferior to my other poems, an author is the most improper judge.
- an inferior officer
- an inferior figure or letter
- the inferior''' or interior planets; an '''inferior conjunction of Mercury or Venus
- the inferior part of a meridian
Usage notes
(term) and (superior) are generally followed by (to); (than) is seen sometimes, but is viewed as wrong.Synonyms
* See alsoAntonyms
* superiorCoordinate terms
*Noun
(en noun)- As you are my inferior , I can tell you to do anything I want.
Antonyms
* superiorExternal links
* * *Anagrams
* ----infer
English
Verb
(inferr)- It is dangerous to infer too much from martial bluster in British politics: at the first hint of trouble, channelling Churchill is a default tactic for beleaguered leaders of all sorts.
- These and a thousand like propositions, which concurre in this purpose, do evidently inferre .
- This doth infer the zeal I had to see him.
- The first part is not the proof of the second, but rather contrariwise, the second inferreth well the first.
- faire Serena.
- Full well hath Clifford played the orator, / Inferring arguments of mighty force.
Usage notes
There are two ways in which the word "infer" is sometimes used as if it meant "imply". "Implication" is done by a person when making a "statement", whereas "inference" is done to a proposition after it had already been made or assumed. Secondly, the word "infer" can sometimes be used to mean "allude" or "express" in a suggestive manner rather than as a direct "statement". Using the word "infer" in this sense is now generally considered incorrect.[http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000232.htm
