Meaning & use
subsidiary
Last updated
a company that is owned or controlled by another, larger company; also, secondary or less important.
See it in a sentence
The airline is a subsidiary of a larger travel conglomerate.
Cost was a subsidiary concern compared to safety in the engineers' design choices.
A note on using this word
As an adjective, 'subsidiary' means secondary in importance, distinct from its common business-noun sense of a controlled company.
Words with a similar meaning
branchaffiliate
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
parent company
Another way to use it
2. adjective
secondary or less important than something else.
Profit was a subsidiary goal compared to the charity's core mission.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “subsidiary”, then compare your use with the examples above.
Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.