- something that causes problems and tends to stop somebody/something from succeeding or making progress
- a serious/severe/significant disadvantage
- One major disadvantage of the area is the lack of public transport.
- What's the main disadvantage?
- Each plan has its own advantages and disadvantages.
- disadvantage to something There are disadvantages to the plan.
- at a disadvantage The fact that he didn't speak a foreign language put him at a distinct disadvantage.
- I was at a disadvantage compared to the younger members of the team.
- Poor product quality can put a company at a competitive disadvantage.
- to somebody's disadvantage | to the disadvantage of somebody I hope my lack of experience won't be to my disadvantage.
- TV companies have basically bought football outright, to the complete disadvantage of the fans.
- The advantages of the scheme far outweighed the disadvantages.
- Many children in the class suffered severe social and economic disadvantage.
Extra ExamplesTopics Difficulty and failureb1- Competition has its disadvantages.
- Despite these disadvantages, many older people maintain an active social life.
- Lack of qualifications is an obvious disadvantage.
- Some students were at an unfair disadvantage.
- The fog was giving them a tactical disadvantage.
- The plan's advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
- The present system has the disadvantage that nobody really understands how it works.
- There are disadvantages in using this treatment.
- There are disadvantages to all those approaches.
- There was no reason for her to feel at a disadvantage.
- These requirements will have to be standardized if some banks are not to suffer a competitive disadvantage.
- This change in the law will be to the disadvantage of small companies.
- This put them at a crippling cost disadvantage.
- We were at a distinct disadvantage compared with children from richer families.
- another disadvantage for the night-worker
- the disadvantage experienced by older people in the workplace
- the inherent disadvantage that low-income communities face
- the problems of racial disadvantage and poverty
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- considerable
- decided
- …
- experience
- face
- have
- …
- at a disadvantage
- despite a/the disadvantage
- to somebody’s disadvantage
- …
- advantages and disadvantages
- place somebody at a disadvantage
- put somebody at a disadvantage
- …
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French desavantage, from des- (expressing reversal) + avantage ‘advantage’.
Check pronunciation:
disadvantage