superior

comparative more superior · superlative most superior · alternative UK obsolete superiour

1. Higher in rank, status, or quality.

   Rebecca had always thought shorts were far superior to pants, as they didn't constantly make her legs itch.

   2 more examples

   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.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   Additionally, reliability proved to be superior to NBL's design, with an average of 120,000 miles run during 1959.

   2022 January 12, David Clough, “From Germany with love: a Warship perspective”, in RAIL, number 948, page 46

   1. Of high standard or quality.

      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.

      1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread, chapter 3

   2. Greater in size or power.
   3. superior toBeyond the power or influence of; too great or firm to be subdued or affected by.

      There is not in earth a spectacle more worthy […]than a brave man superior to his sufferings.

      1711 December 11 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “FRIDAY, 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

   4. Greater or better than average.

      Synonyms: extraordinary

2. Courageously or serenely indifferent (as to something painful or disheartening).
3. mediaPrinted in superscript.

   a superior figure or letter

4. Located above or out; higher in position.

   the superior jaw; the superior part of an image

   1. anatomyLocated above or higher, a direction that in humans corresponds to cephalad.
   2. biology(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.
   3. biology(of an ovary) Above and free from the other floral organs.
   4. biologyBelonging to the part of an axillary flower which is toward the main stem.

      Synonyms: posterior

   5. biology(of the radicle) Pointing toward the apex of the fruit.

      Synonyms: ascending

5. biologyMore comprehensive.

   A genus is superior to a species.

6. Affecting or assuming an air of superiority.

   Synonyms: supercilious

7. astronomyHaving a wider orbit around the Sun; typically with respect to the Earth.

plural superiors · alternative UK obsolete superiour

1. A person of higher rank or quality, especially a colleague in a higher position.
   1. The senior person in a monastic community.

      Synonyms: overling

   2. The head of certain religious institutions and colleges.

      Synonyms: overling

2. mediaA superior letter, figure, or symbol.

   Synonyms: superscript

3. historicalScots lawOne who has made an original grant of heritable property to a tenant or vassal, on condition of a certain annual payment (feu duty) or of the performance of certain services.

1. A number of places in the United States:
   1. A town in Pinal County, Arizona.
   2. A statutory town in Boulder County, Colorado.
   3. An unincorporated community in Raccoon Township, Parke County, Indiana.
   4. A minor city in Dickinson County, Iowa.
   5. A township in Chippewa County, Michigan.
   6. A township and unincorporated community therein, in Washtenaw County, Michigan.
   7. A town, the county seat of Mineral County, Montana.
   8. A small city in Nuckolls County, Nebraska.
   9. An unincorporated community in McDowell County, West Virginia.
   10. A city, village, and civil town in Wisconsin. The city is the county seat of Douglas County.
   11. A town in Sweetwater County, Wyoming.
2. abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of Lake Superior.
3. abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of Superior Craton.
4. Synonym of Superia.

   Synonyms: Superia