Meaning & use
disadvantage
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Meanings
nouncountable
A feature or situation that makes something less useful or appealing than it could be.
Grammar: Plural disadvantages; often in the pattern advantages and disadvantages: the main disadvantage is the price.
Patterns
- the disadvantage of something
- a disadvantage of doing something
The main disadvantage of the flat is the noise from the road.
One disadvantage of working from home is feeling isolated.
Every plan has advantages and disadvantages.
nounsingular
A weak position compared with others, which makes success harder.
Grammar: Used with at in the fixed phrase at a disadvantage: she was at a disadvantage without a car.
Patterns
- at a disadvantage
- put someone at a disadvantage
Students without internet access are at a disadvantage.
His height put him at a disadvantage in the race.
She felt at a disadvantage because she hadn't read the papers.
noununcountable
Social or economic hardship that limits a person's chances in life.
Grammar: Often used for social conditions, sometimes with social or economic before it: children facing disadvantage.
Patterns
- facing disadvantage
- social disadvantage
The charity helps children who face disadvantage.
Poverty is a major source of disadvantage.
Researchers study how disadvantage passes from parents to children.
Word forms
| plural | disadvantages |
|---|
Common combinations
- at a disadvantage
- We were at a disadvantage because they knew the area.
- a major disadvantage
- Cost is a major disadvantage of the system.
- a clear disadvantage
- The slow speed is a clear disadvantage.
- to your disadvantage
- The change worked to his disadvantage.
- a competitive disadvantage
- The firm suffers a competitive disadvantage in pricing.
- weigh the disadvantages
- Weigh the advantages and disadvantages before deciding.
Synonyms and how they differ
- drawback
- Drawback is a bit more informal and points to a specific flaw in an otherwise good thing.
- downside
- Downside is conversational and describes the negative side of a situation, not a weak position.
- handicap
- Handicap suggests a serious burden that limits someone, and can sound stronger and more dated.
- liability
- Liability is something that causes trouble or loss, usually a person or thing that drags others down.
Opposites
Word family
- disadvantaged adjective
- poor or lacking opportunities
- disadvantageous adjective
- causing a weaker position
- disadvantage verb
- to put someone in a weaker position
- advantage noun
- something helpful or beneficial
Commonly confused: disadvantage or disbenefit?
disadvantage vs disbenefit
Disbenefit is a rare technical word for a harmful effect; disadvantage is the ordinary word.
Practice
Without a map, the visitors were ___ in the old town.
Choose one answer.
At a disadvantage is the fixed phrase meaning in a weaker position. The other options use the wrong preposition or the wrong word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “disadvantage”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.