inferiority complex

SEE SYNONYMS FOR inferiority complex ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Psychiatry. intense feeling of inferiority, producing a personality characterized either by extreme reticence or, as a result of overcompensation, by extreme aggressiveness.
lack of self-esteem; feeling of inadequacy; lack of self-confidence.

Origin of inferiority complex

First recorded in 1920–25

Words nearby inferiority complex

inferior thyroid vein, inferior vein of cerebellar hemisphere, inferior vein of eyelid, inferior vein of vermis, inferior vena cava, inferiority complex, infernal, infernal machine, inferno, inferoanterior, infertile

Example sentences from the Web for inferiority complex

  • I yielded to an instinct for deprecative horse-play, one of my worst faults, begot of an inferiority-complex.

    Tramping on Life |Harry Kemp

British Dictionary definitions for inferiority complex

inferiority complex

noun

psychiatry a disorder arising from the conflict between the desire to be noticed and the fear of being humiliated, characterized by aggressiveness or withdrawal into oneself

Medical definitions for inferiority complex

inferiority complex

n.

A persistent sense of inadequacy or the tendency to diminish oneself, sometimes resulting in excessively aggressive behavior through overcompensation.