disadvantage
A piece of bad luck or a less favorable position is a disadvantage. If you are trying to run a fifty-yard dash in flip flops when everyone else has on running shoes, you'll be at a disadvantage.
It's harder to be successful when you start with a disadvantage. One kind of disadvantage is being born into a poor family — it's a struggle for a child in poverty to do well in school, attend college, or end up with a well-paying job. A disadvantage is the opposite of an advantage, a lucky or favorable circumstance. At the root of both words is the Old French avant, "at the front."
Definitions of disadvantage
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the quality of having an inferior or less favorable position
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types:
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unfavorableness, unfavourableness
the quality of not being encouraging or indicative of success
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limitation
the quality of being limited or restricted
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defect, shortcoming
a failing or deficiency
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awkwardness, nuisance value
the quality of an embarrassing situation
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deprivation, loss
the disadvantage that results from losing something
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drawback
the quality of being a hindrance
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penalty
the disadvantage or painful consequences of an action or condition
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inferiority, unfavorable position
the quality of being a competitive disadvantage
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inexpedience, inexpediency
the quality of being unsuited to the end in view
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unprofitability, unprofitableness
the quality of affording no gain or no benefit or no profit
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inauspiciousness, unpropitiousness
the quality of suggesting an unsuccessful result
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catch, gimmick
a drawback or difficulty that is not readily evident
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type of:
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liability
the quality of being something that holds you back
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put at a disadvantage; hinder, harm“This rule clearly disadvantages me”
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Antonyms:
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advantage
give an advantage to
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type of:
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discriminate, separate, single out
treat differently on the basis of sex or race
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advantage
Word Family
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