Meaning & use
subaltern
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Meanings
nouncountablemilitaryBritish
An army officer ranking below a captain, such as a lieutenant.
Grammar: Mostly historical or British; it names a rank group, not one particular rank.
Patterns
- a subaltern in something
The young subaltern was given command of a platoon.
In the novel, a nervous subaltern waits for orders in the trench.
Her grandfather served as a subaltern in a cavalry regiment.
nouncountableformal
A person or group with little power or influence in a society, such as colonized or marginalized people.
Grammar: Used in academic writing, often in the plural: subalterns.
Patterns
- the subaltern
The historian studied how subalterns resisted colonial rule.
The essay asks whether the subaltern can truly speak.
Her research gives a voice to subalterns missing from official records.
adjectivebefore a nounformal
Of lower rank or position, or belonging to a powerless social group.
Grammar: Comes before the noun: subaltern groups, a subaltern officer.
The scholars examine subaltern movements in rural India.
He held a subaltern post in the colonial office.
Subaltern voices rarely appear in old textbooks.
Word forms
| plural | subalterns |
|---|
Common combinations
- a young subaltern
- As a young subaltern, he saw action in the desert.
- subaltern studies
- Subaltern studies challenged how history was written.
- subaltern groups
- Subaltern groups often lack formal political representation.
- subaltern officer
- A subaltern officer reported to the major.
- subaltern voices
- The book recovers subaltern voices from the archives.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lieutenant
- Lieutenant is one specific rank, whereas subaltern is a collective term for several junior ranks.
- underling
- Underling is an informal and slightly insulting word for any low-ranking worker, with no military precision.
- subordinate
- Subordinate is the everyday word for anyone under another's authority, in any kind of organization.
Opposites
Word family
- subalternity noun
- the condition of being a subaltern, mostly in academic writing
- subordinate adjective
- of lower rank; a loosely related word with a similar idea
- subordination noun
- the state of being lower in rank
Commonly confused: subaltern or alternate?
subaltern vs alternate
Alternate means taking turns or being a substitute; it has no link to the military rank or to social status despite the similar ending.
Practice
In a British army story, a subaltern is most likely to be ___.
Choose one answer.
A subaltern is an officer below the rank of captain, so a junior officer leading a small unit fits. A general is far higher, and the other options are not ranks.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “subaltern”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.