Meanings
plural inequalities
- Absence of equality.
- countableuncountableA condition or state (of social, cultural, or legal matters) that is not equal; especially, such a condition that is thereby also unfair.
The inequality in living standards led to a civil war as the have-nots rebelled.
3 more examples
The traditional inequalities of marriage, such as changing her surname to his.
1976 February 14, A. Nolder Gay, “The View from the Closet”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 33, page 17In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […] The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra–wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.
2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19With the growing awareness of climate change, congestion, and regional inequality, rail transport has re-emerged as a solution.
2025 July 9, Oliver Wheeler, “Action stations...”, in RAIL, number 1039, page 68Synonyms: unequality, unequalness, inequalness · Antonyms: equality, equalness
- countableuncountablemathematicsA statement that of two quantities one is specifically less than (or greater than) another. Symbol: < or ≤ or > or ≥ or ne , as appropriate.
The inequality x is less than y, together with that ylt;z, allows us to deduce the inequality xlt;z.
1 more example
I then specify a set of new tight Bell inequalities for arbitrary event spaces -- the "even/odd" inequalities -- which have a straightforward interpretation when expressed in terms of multideviations.
2015, Brandon Fogel, “Multideviations: The hidden structure of Bell's theorems”, in arXivSynonyms: unequality, unequalness, inequalness, inequation · Antonyms: equality, equalness
- countableuncountableUnevenness, irregularity.
When we behold a wide, turf-covered expanse, we should remember that its smoothness, upon which so much of its beauty depends, is mainly due to all the inequalities having been levelled by worms.
1881, Charles Darwin, The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms, page 313Synonyms: unequality, unequalness, inequalness · Antonyms: equality, equalness, evenness, regularity, smoothness
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA condition or state (of social, cultural, or legal matters) that is not equal; especially, such a condition that is thereby also unfair.
nounA statement that of two quantities one is specifically less than (or greater than) another. Symbol: < or ≤ or > or ≥ or ne , as appropriate.
nounUnevenness, irregularity.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latininaequālis“unequal”
- Medieval Latininaequālitās
- Old Frenchinequalité
- Middle Englishinequalite
- Englishinequality
From Middle English inequalite, from Old French inequalité, from Medieval Latin inaequālitās, from Latin inaequālis (“unequal”), from in- (“not”) + aequālis (“equal”). Morphologically inequal + -ity and in- + equality.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀνισότης
- ἀνισότης (anisótēs)unfair, not equal, state
Arabic عَدَم مُسَاوَاة, مُتَبَايِنَة
- عَدَم مُسَاوَاة (ʕadam musāwāh)unfair, not equal, state
- مُتَبَايِنَة (mutabāyina)statement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Bengali অসমতা
- অসমতা (ośomota)unfair, not equal, state
Bulgarian нера́венство, нера́венство
- нера́венство (nerávenstvo)unfair, not equal, state
- нера́венство (nerávenstvo)statement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Catalan desigualtat, desigualtat
- desigualtatunfair, not equal, state
- desigualtatstatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Chinese Cantonese 不平等, 不等式
- 不平等unfair, not equal, state
- 不等式statement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Chinese Mandarin 不平等, 不等式
- 不平等 (bùpíngděng)unfair, not equal, state
- 不等式 (bùděngshì)statement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Czech nerovnost, nerovnice
- nerovnostunfair, not equal, state
- nerovnicestatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Danish ulighed, ulighed
- ulighedunfair, not equal, state
- ulighedstatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Dutch ongelijkheid, ongelijkheid
- ongelijkheidunfair, not equal, state
- ongelijkheidstatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Esperanto malegaleco
- malegalecounfair, not equal, state
Estonian ebavõrdsus
- ebavõrdsusunfair, not equal, state
Finnish epätasa-arvo, eriarvoisuus
- epätasa-arvounfair, not equal, state
- eriarvoisuusunfair, not equal, state
- epäyhtälöstatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
French inégalité, inéquation
- inégalitéunfair, not equal, state
- inéquationstatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
German Ungleichheit, Ungleichung
- Ungleichheitunfair, not equal, state
- Ungleichungstatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Greek ανισότητα, ανισότητα
- ανισότητα (anisótita)unfair, not equal, state
- ανισότητα (anisótita)statement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Hebrew אי־שוויון, אִי־שִׁוְיוֹן
- אי־שוויוןunfair, not equal, state
- אִי־שִׁוְיוֹן (i-shivyón)unfair, not equal, state
Hindi असमानता, असमिका
- असमानता (asamāntā)unfair, not equal, state
- असमिका (asmikā)statement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Hungarian egyenlőtlenség
- egyenlőtlenségunfair, not equal, state
Icelandic ójöfnuður, ójafna
- ójöfnuðurunfair, not equal, state
- ójafnastatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Indonesian ketimpangan, pertidaksamaan
- ketimpanganunfair, not equal, state
- pertidaksamaanstatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Irish neamhionannas
- neamhionannasunfair, not equal, state
Italian disuguaglianza, disequazione f disuguaglianza
- disuguaglianzaunfair, not equal, state
- disequazione f disuguaglianzastatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Japanese 不平等, 不等式
- 不平等 (fubyōdō)unfair, not equal, state
- 不等式 (futōshiki)statement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Korean 불평등, 부등식
- 불평등 (bulpyeongdeung)unfair, not equal, state
- 부등식 (budeungsik)statement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Latin inīquitās
- inīquitāsunfair, not equal, state
Latvian nevienlīdzība
- nevienlīdzībaunfair, not equal, state
Lithuanian nelygybė
- nelygybėunfair, not equal, state
Malay ketidaksamaan, ketaksamaan
- ketidaksamaanunfair, not equal, state
- ketaksamaanunfair, not equal, state
- ketaksamaanstatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Norwegian Bokmål ulikhet
- ulikhetunfair, not equal, state
Polish nierówność, nierówność
- nierównośćunfair, not equal, state
- nierównośćstatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Portuguese desigualdade, inequação
- desigualdadeunfair, not equal, state
- inequaçãostatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
- desigualdadestatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Romanian inegalitate, inecuație
- inegalitateunfair, not equal, state
- inecuațiestatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Russian нера́венство, нера́венство
- нера́венство (nerávenstvo)unfair, not equal, state
- нера́венство (nerávenstvo)statement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Slovak nerovnosť, nerovnosť
- nerovnosťunfair, not equal, state
- nerovnosťstatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Spanish desigualdad, inecuación
- desigualdadunfair, not equal, state
- inecuaciónstatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
- desigualdadstatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Swedish ojämlikhet, olikhet
- ojämlikhetunfair, not equal, state
- olikhetstatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Thai ความเหลื่อมล้ำ, อสมการ
- ความเหลื่อมล้ำ (kwaam-lʉ̀ʉam-lám)unfair, not equal, state
- อสมการ (à-sà-má-gaan)statement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Turkish eşitsizlik
- eşitsizlikunfair, not equal, state
Ukrainian нері́вність, нері́вність
- нері́вність (nerívnistʹ)unfair, not equal, state
- нері́вність (nerívnistʹ)statement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Urdu غَیر مُساوات, عَدَم مُساوات
- غَیر مُساوات (ġair musāvāt)unfair, not equal, state
- عَدَم مُساوات ('adam musāvāt)unfair, not equal, state
- نابَرابَری (nābarābarī)unfair, not equal, state
- نا مُساوات (nā musāvāt)statement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Vietnamese bất bình đẳng, không bình đẳng
- bất bình đẳngunfair, not equal, state
- không bình đẳngunfair, not equal, state
- bất đẳng thứcstatement that one quantity is less (or greater) than another
Welsh anghydraddoldeb
- anghydraddoldebunfair, not equal, state
Cite this entry
inequality. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inequality
“inequality.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inequality. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “inequality,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inequality.
Source: inequality on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.