inferiority complex
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia.
Related to inferiority complex: superiority complex
inferiority complex
Psychiatry a disorder arising from the conflict between the desire to be noticed and the fear of being humiliated, characterized by aggressiveness or withdrawal into oneself
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
inferiority complex
[in‚fir·ē′är·əd·ē ′käm‚pleks] (psychology)
Repressed unconsious fears and feelings of physical or social inadequacy or both, which may result in excessive anxiety, inability to function, or actual failure.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.