Inferior To: Standard Pattern
Inferior To: Standard Pattern records the directly documented complement and avoids manufacturing a two-sided “inferior than” comparison without matching authority.
Cambridge documents “inferior to” when something is not as good as the person or thing used as the comparison point.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| lower in quality, value, or performance than a comparison point | inferior to + noun/pronoun | Use “inferior to.” |
| ordinary comparative adjective | worse than / less ... than | Use the comparison form that matches that adjective. |
Quick tests
Meaning / construction test
Are you using the adjective “inferior” to compare one thing with another?
If yes: Use “inferior to” before the comparison point.
If no: If you are using a different comparative adjective, follow that adjective’s normal pattern.
Caveat: The standard complement with “inferior” is “to,” not a mechanical “than” modeled on ordinary comparatives.
Examples
This copy is inferior to the original.
“To” introduces the comparison point.
The cheaper material proved inferior to the tested sample.
The sample is the standard of comparison.
The result was worse than last year’s result.
A different comparative adjective uses its own pattern.
Further guidance
Construction
Cambridge gives inferior to someone/something as a collocation.
Style Boundary
This page is about the comparison complement, not every adjectival use of inferior.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- inferior — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Cambridge dictionary evidence for inferior to as the documented comparison construction.