disadvantaged

1. 1
   adjectiveeuphemistic

   Lacking money and facing real financial hardship.

   Many disadvantaged households cannot afford basic medical care.

   The program offers full scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

   Similarunderprivileged, deprived, poor, needy, impoverished

   Oppositeprivileged, affluent, wealthy, well-off

   Note

   A polite stand-in for poor, which names a position rather than a bank balance. Unlike the comparative sense, it needs no stated rival and no compared with. It usually attaches to people, households and backgrounds, as in people from a disadvantaged background. Because it is a euphemism, plain poor or low-income can sound more direct where softening might seem evasive.

2. 2
   adjective

   Placed in a weaker position than another because of some advantage the other holds.

   Like playing a game where your opponent already holds all the better cards.

   Candidates who lack internet access are disadvantaged in online application systems.

   The new rules left rural schools disadvantaged compared with their urban counterparts.

   Similarhandicapped, penalized, hampered

   Oppositeadvantaged, favored, privileged

3. 3
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of disadvantage.

   The redistricting plan disadvantaged voters in the eastern counties.

   Limited funding disadvantaged the smaller departments throughout the year.

   Note

   The verb is transitive, so this form always has someone on the receiving end: the plan disadvantaged voters, or voters were disadvantaged by the plan. The same spelling also serves as an adjective, and grading tells them apart. Only the adjective of relative weakness takes more disadvantaged and most disadvantaged. The verb takes an object or, in the passive, by and an agent.

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