Library / English Dictionary

DISADVANTAGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of having an inferior or less favorable position

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("disadvantage" is a kind of...):

liability (the quality of being something that holds you back)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "disadvantage"):

unfavorableness; unfavourableness (the quality of not being encouraging or indicative of success)

limitation (the quality of being limited or restricted)

defect; shortcoming (a failing or deficiency)

awkwardness; nuisance value (the quality of an embarrassing situation)

deprivation; loss (the disadvantage that results from losing something)

drawback (the quality of being a hindrance)

penalty (the disadvantage or painful consequences of an action or condition)

inferiority; unfavorable position (the quality of being a competitive disadvantage)

inexpedience; inexpediency (the quality of being unsuited to the end in view)

unprofitability; unprofitableness (the quality of affording no gain or no benefit or no profit)

Antonym:

advantage (the quality of having a superior or more favorable position)

Derivation:

disadvantage (put at a disadvantage; hinder, harm)

disadvantageous (involving or creating circumstances detrimental to success or effectiveness)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put at a disadvantage; hinder, harm

Example:

This rule clearly disadvantages me

Synonyms:

disadvantage; disfavor; disfavour

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "disadvantage" is one way to...):

discriminate; separate; single out (treat differently on the basis of sex or race)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "disadvantage"):

hamper; handicap; hinder (put at a disadvantage)

prejudice (disadvantage by prejudice)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Antonym:

advantage (give an advantage to)

Derivation:

disadvantage (the quality of having an inferior or less favorable position)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The language of this country being always upon the flux, the struldbrugs of one age do not understand those of another; neither are they able, after two hundred years, to hold any conversation (farther than by a few general words) with their neighbours the mortals; and thus they lie under the disadvantage of living like foreigners in their own country.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I am too classical, not enough up-to-date in the interpretative branches of science, and I can only plead the disadvantages of my education and a temperamental slothfulness that prevents me from doing the work.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Involving disadvantage or harm.

(Negative, NCI Thesaurus)

The real evils, indeed, of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself; these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

And yet, in spite of all these disadvantages, there was a certain nobility in the woman’s bearing—a gallantry in the defiant chin and in the upraised head, which compelled something of respect and admiration.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A ball itself could not have been more welcome to Catherine than this little excursion, so strong was her desire to be acquainted with Woodston; and her heart was still bounding with joy when Henry, about an hour afterwards, came booted and greatcoated into the room where she and Eleanor were sitting, and said, I am come, young ladies, in a very moralizing strain, to observe that our pleasures in this world are always to be paid for, and that we often purchase them at a great disadvantage, giving ready-monied actual happiness for a draft on the future, that may not be honoured.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

That disadvantage is not diminished, when that pressure necessitates the drawing of stipendiary emoluments, before those emoluments are strictly due and payable.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The advantage or disadvantage of your family, of your parents, your brothers and sisters, never seems to have had a moment's share in your thoughts on this occasion.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

"I flatter myself," replied Elinor, "that even under the disadvantage of better rooms and a broader staircase, you will hereafter find your own house as faultless as you now do this."

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

These are daring men, and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us some harm unless we are careful.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)