Inequality
noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Absence of equality.; A condition or state (of social, cultural, or legal matters) that is not equal; especially, such a condition that is thereby also unfair. countable, uncountable
"The inequality in living standards led to a civil war as the have-nots rebelled."
- 2 lack of equality wordnet
- 3 Absence of equality.; A statement that of two quantities one is specifically less than (or greater than) another. Symbol: < or ≤ or > or ≥ or ne , as appropriate. countable, uncountable
"The inequality x is less than y, together with that ylt;z, allows us to deduce the inequality xlt;z."
- 4 Absence of equality.; Unevenness, irregularity. countable, uncountable
"When we behold a wide, turf-covered expanse, we should remember that its smoothness, upon which so much of its beauty depends, is mainly due to all the inequalities having been levelled by worms."
Example
More examples"No inequality should be allowed to exist between men and women."
Etymology
From Middle English inequalite, from Old French inequalité, from Medieval Latin inaequālitās, from Latin inaequālis (“unequal”), from in- (“not”) + aequālis (“equal”). Morphologically inequal + -ity and in- + equality.
Related phrases
More for "inequality"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.