Etymology

inferiority complex

Today it means: A sense of inferiority; the feeling that one is inferior to others in certain aspects. Full definition →

German Minderwertigkeitskomplex
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The story

  1. German · calque ofMinderwertigkeitskomplex
  2. English todayinferiority complex

Calque of German Minderwertigkeitskomplex (literally “complex of lesser value”), coined in 1920 by Alfred Adler.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.