9 uses
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? —1 use
exact meaning not specified
Definition
of low quality, or of lower quality or rank than something else — sometimes used as a noun to refer to a person of lower rank or status
- ...or incest; others, to the prostituting of their own wives and daughters; others, to the betraying of their country or their prince; some, to poisoning; more to the perverting of justice, in order to destroy the innocent, I hope I may be pardoned, if these discoveries inclined me a little to abate of that profound veneration, which I am naturally apt to pay to persons of high rank, who ought to be treated with the utmost respect due to their sublime dignity, by us their inferiors.Part 3 — A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, .... (73% in)
There are no more uses of "inferior" flagged with this meaning in Gulliver's Travels.
Typical Usage
(best examples)
? —8 uses
exact meaning not specified
- But the race of inferior Houyhnhnms, bred up to be servants, is not so strictly limited upon this article: these are allowed to produce three of each sex, to be domestics in the noble families.Part 4 — A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnms (62% in)
- I should not have dwelt so long upon this particular, if it had not been a point wherein the reputation of a great lady is so nearly concerned, to say nothing of my own; though I then had the honour to be a nardac, which the treasurer himself is not; for all the world knows, that he is only a glumglum, a title inferior by one degree, as that of a marquis is to a duke in England; yet I allow he preceded me in right of his post.Part 1 — A Voyage to Lilliput (78% in)
- He had always treated me more like a brother, than an inferior officer; and, hearing of my arrival, made me a visit, as I apprehended only out of friendship, for nothing passed more than what is usual after long absences.Part 3 — A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, .... (0% in)
- ] Although I cannot say that I was ill treated in this island, yet I must confess I thought myself too much neglected, not without some degree of contempt; for neither prince nor people appeared to be curious in any part of knowledge, except mathematics and music, wherein I was far their inferior, and upon that account very little regarded.Part 3 — A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, .... (31% in)
- For nature (as the physicians allege) having intended the superior anterior orifice only for the intromission of solids and liquids, and the inferior posterior for ejection, these artists ingeniously considering that in all diseases nature is forced out of her seat, therefore, to replace her in it, the body must be treated in a manner directly contrary, by interchanging the use of each orifice; forcing solids and liquids in at the anus, and making evacuations at the mouth.Part 4 — A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnms (43% in)
- ...the Yahoos acted as the governing, rational animal, and held the Houyhnhnms in servitude; that he observed in me all the qualities of a Yahoo, only a little more civilized by some tincture of reason, which, however, was in a degree as far inferior to the Houyhnhnm race, as the Yahoos of their country were to me; that, among other things, I mentioned a custom we had of castrating Houyhnhnms when they were young, in order to render them tame; that the operation was easy and safe; that it...Part 4 — A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnms (67% in)
- He concluded, "that for his own part, he could have been content to keep me in his service as long as I lived; because he found I had cured myself of some bad habits and dispositions, by endeavouring, as far as my inferior nature was capable, to imitate the Houyhnhnms."Part 4 — A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnms (77% in)
- Detractors are pleased to think it improbable, that so illustrious a person should descend to give so great a mark of distinction to a creature so inferior as I. Neither have I forgotten how apt some travellers are to boast of extraordinary favours they have received.Part 4 — A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnms (81% in)
There are no more uses of "inferior" in Gulliver's Travels.
Typical Usage
(best examples)