superordinate

adjective

su·​per·​or·​di·​nate ˌsü-pər-ˈȯr-də-nət How to pronounce superordinate (audio)
-ˈȯrd-nət,
-ˈȯr-də-ˌnāt
: superior in rank, class, or status

Examples of superordinate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In addition to eroding public trust in the government, the COVID crisis has made clear that a political system that has been tailored to a single superordinate figure is highly susceptible to disruption, shocks, and arbitrary decision-making. Yanzhong Huang, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2023 Their vision does not reflect the idea that computing can or should be a superordinate realm of scholarship, on the order of the arts or engineering. Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 19 Mar. 2024 In close coordination with the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media as the superordinate body, the Federal Archives is seeking ways to discontinue the obligation to pay fees also for the commercial use of images from the period until 1945. Manolis Vasilakis, The New York Review of Books, 20 Apr. 2023 Decades of research that followed focused on the benefits of superordinate goals (that supersede any particular group’s interests) including goals to fight a common enemy or to create a common identity. K.n.c., The Economist, 14 Aug. 2019

Word History

Etymology

super- + subordinate

First Known Use

1615, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of superordinate was in 1615

Dictionary Entries Near superordinate

Cite this Entry

“Superordinate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/superordinate. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.

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