subordinate
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The military is subordinate to its civilian commander in chief, and as chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he has no direct command of battlefield forces.
From Salon • Apr. 11, 2026
Prasad took the unusual step of signing the letter to the company himself, rather than a subordinate directly overseeing vaccine applications.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026
She says she was then demoted to a subordinate role on a big internal project supporting the other senior manager her report had implicated.
From BBC • Jan. 10, 2026
“Even though there’s an alpha male, the more subordinate males within the troop will mate with the females and do what’s called sneak breeding,” said Candace Sclimenti, curator of mammals at the zoo.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025
Corporal Whitcomb, an atheist, was a disgruntled subordinate who felt he could do the chaplain’s job much better than the chaplain was doing it and viewed himself, therefore, as an underprivileged victim of social inequity.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Vocabulary lists containing subordinate
List 1
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Latin Root "sub" Words
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ASVAB Word Knowledge
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