Table of Contents
Definition of Subordinate Group
(noun) Any group that has less power than any dominant group.
Examples of Subordinate Group
- Minorities are subordinate groups in society.
- Gays and lesbians are subordinate sexual minorities to heterosexual people.
- Women, as a group, are subordinate compared to men.
Subordinate Group Pronunciation
Syllabification: sub·or·di·nate group
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /suh-bOR-duh-nuht grOOp/
- British English – /suh-bAWd-i-nit grOOp/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /səˈbɔrdənət-grup/
- British English – /səˈbɔːdnɪt-gruːp/
Usage Notes
- Plural: subordinate groups
- Also called subgroup.
Related Video
Additional Information
Related Terms
- dominant group
- ethnicity
- institution
- institutional discrimination
- minority group
- norm
- power
- race
- scapegoat theory
- social construction of race
Works Consulted
Encyclopædia Britannica. (N.d.) Britannica Digital Learning. (https://britannicalearn.com/).
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Taylor & Francis. (N.d.) Routledge Handbooks Online. (https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/).
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Wiley. (N.d.) Wiley Online Library. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/).
Cite the Definition of Subordinate Group
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “subordinate group.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 20, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/subordinate-group/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
subordinate group. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/subordinate-group/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “subordinate group.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 20, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/subordinate-group/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“subordinate group.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/subordinate-group/>.