disadvantage
/ˌdɪsədˈvɑːntɪdʒ/US/ˌdɪsədˈvæntɪd͡ʒ/
disadvantage noun: a weakness or undesirable characteristic; con; drawback.
Noun
disadvantage (plural disadvantages)
- A weakness or undesirable characteristic; con; drawback.
- The disadvantage to owning a food processor is that you have to store it somewhere.
- One of the disadvantages of increasing intermediate stops is that, as we have pointed out already, certain prestige trains have to suffer, notably the "Cornish Riviera Express", slowed 15min to Plymouth by stops at Taunton and Exeter; the "Torbay Express", decelerated 18min by stops at Reading...1961 October, “The winter timetables of British Railways: Western Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 590
- A setback or handicap.
- My height is a disadvantage for reaching high shelves.
- I was brought hither under the disadvantage of being unknown, even by sight, to any of you.1774, Edmund Burke, speech to the electors of Bristol
- Loss; detriment; hindrance.
- They would throw a construction on his conduct, to his disadvantage before the public.1834–1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume (please specify |volume=I to X), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company [et al.], →OCLC
Verb
disadvantage (third-person singular simple present disadvantages, present participle disadvantaging, simple past and past participle disadvantaged)
- To place at a disadvantage.
- They fear it might disadvantage honest participants to allow automated entries.
- For London to have its own exclusive immigration policy would exacerbate the sense that immigration benefits only certain groups and disadvantages the rest. It would entrench the gap between London and the rest of the nation. And it would widen the breach between the public and the elite that has...2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 Sep 2013
- Synonyms:
- tell against
disadvantage meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
disadvantage in Hindi
- disadvantage
- नुक़सान nuqsān
disadvantage in Tamil
- எதிர்மறைப் பயனுடைய பயனருக்கம், நன்மையற்ற, பயனற்ற, நன்மையற்ற நிலை, பலனின்மை, வசதியற்ற சூழல்
disadvantage in Urdu
- disadvantage, drawback, downside
- نقصان nuqsān
disadvantage in Bengali
- অসুবিধা, প্রতিকূল অবস্থা, ক্ষতি, লোকসান, অসুবিধায় ফেলা, ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত করা
More languagesFewer languages
- disadvantage in Malayalam
- ന്യൂനത nyūnata
- disadvantage in Kannada
- ಕೊರತೆ, ತೊಂದರೆ, ಹಿನ್ನೆಡೆ, ಹಿಂತೆಗೆತ
- disadvantage in Punjabi
- ਕਸਰ kasar
- disadvantage in Arabic
- سَيِّئَة sayyiʔa
- disadvantage in Vietnamese
- sự bất lợi, thế bất lợi, sự thiệt hại, mối tổn thất
Examples of disadvantage in a sentence
- I was at a disadvantage because of believing something to be true that is not.
- Firstly, that's illegal; secondly, it has serious disadvantages; thirdly, it's not necessary; and lastly, did I mention that it's illegal?
- Metal glasses, unlike those based on silica, are electrically conductive, which can be either an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on the application.
Synonyms of disadvantage
Antonyms
Forms of disadvantage
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | disadvantages |
| alternative form (obsolete) | disadvauntage |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | disadvantages |
| present participle | disadvantaging |
| past participle | disadvantaged |
| past | disadvantaged |
Origin of disadvantage
From Middle English disavauntage, from Old French desavantage.
Words formed from disadvantage
Questions about disadvantage
- What does disadvantage mean?
- Disadvantage means a weakness or undesirable characteristic; con; drawback.
- What is disadvantage in Hindi?
- Disadvantage in Hindi is नुक़सान (nuqsān). See Disadvantage meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is disadvantage?
- Disadvantage can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce disadvantage?
- Disadvantage is pronounced /ˌdɪsədˈvɑːntɪdʒ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of disadvantage?
- The plural of disadvantage is disadvantages.
Words near disadvantage in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: disadvantage (page history and authors); नुक़सान (Hindi) (page history and authors); disadvantage (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); نقصان (Urdu) (page history and authors); disadvantage (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ന്യൂനത (Malayalam) (page history and authors); disadvantage (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਕਸਰ (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-disadvantage.wav.
Cite this entry: “disadvantage.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/disadvantage. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.