inequality
nounUK /ˌɪn.ɪˈkwɒl.ɪ.ti/ · US /ˌɪn.ɪˈkwɑ.lɪ.ti/
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.
› Absence of equality.
1
A condition or state (of social, cultural, or legal matters) that is not equal; especially, such a condition that is thereby also unfair.
- The inequality in living standards led to a civil war as the have-nots rebelled.
- The traditional inequalities of marriage, such as changing her surname to his.1976 February 14, A. Nolder Gay, “The View from the Closet”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 33, page 17:
2 more examples
- In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […] The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra–wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19:
- With the growing awareness of climate change, congestion, and regional inequality, rail transport has re-emerged as a solution.2025 July 9, Oliver Wheeler, “Action stations...”, in RAIL, number 1039, page 68:
2
Mathematics, Sciences A statement that of two quantities one is specifically less than (or greater than) another. Symbol: < or ≤ or > or ≥ or ne , as appropriate.
- The inequality x is less than y, together with that ylt;z, allows us to deduce the inequality xlt;z.
- I then specify a set of new tight Bell inequalities for arbitrary event spaces -- the "even/odd" inequalities -- which have a straightforward interpretation when expressed in terms of multideviations.2015, Brandon Fogel, “Multideviations: The hidden structure of Bell's theorems”, in arXiv:
3
Of surfaces or objects Unevenness, irregularity.
- 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.1881, Charles Darwin, The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms, page 313:
- Synonyms
- difference, disparity, imparity, inequality, inequation, nonequivilence, unevenness
- Antonyms
- equality
- Derived terms
- Azuma's inequality
- Related terms
- ≠, ≉, ≈, ≅, disequilibrium, imbalance, instability, prejudice
- Hyponyms
- inferiority, superiority