subordination

noun

sub·​or·​di·​na·​tion sə-ˌbȯr-də-ˈnā-shən 

: placement in a lower class, rank, or position : the act or process of subordinating someone or something or the state of being subordinated

As a prescriptive text, moreover, the Bible has been interpreted as justifying the subordination of women to men.

—Cullen Murphy

The price is individual subordination to the group and limited autonomy of the nuclear family.

—Corinne N. Nydegger

After 1688, as before, the message was one of subordination to divinely constituted authority, whether of kings or of one's social superiors.

—Richard W. Davis

Synonyms

• compliance
• conformity
• obedience
• submission

Examples of subordination in a Sentence

an oligarchy requires subordination by the masses to the will of a tiny elite

Recent Examples on the Web

In Gilead, women exist in complete subordination to men, especially the handmaids, a class of women who are still fertile despite an ongoing environmental catastrophe that has decimated birth rates. —Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 7 Dec. 2024

The armed forces have never aspired or organized to overthrow the government, and their professional ethos of subordination to civilian control is deeply ingrained. —Kori Schake, The Atlantic, 30 Nov. 2024

The only way to avoid a subordination discount is to be capital-efficient. —Michael Szalontay, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024

What this adds up to, Payne argues, is the near-total subordination of political discourse to group identities. —Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1595, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

subordination

noun

sub·​or·​di·​na·​tion sə-ˌbȯrd-ᵊn-ˈā-shən 

: an act or instance of subordinating

also : the remedy of subordinating a claim see also equitable subordination