1. Lower in rank or importance
   "The subordinate officer followed the captain's orders";
   - low-level, subsidiary
    
2. Subject or submissive to authority or the control of another
   "a subordinate kingdom"
    
3. (of a clause) unable to stand alone syntactically as a complete sentence
   "a subordinate clause functions as a noun or adjective or adverb within a sentence";
   - dependent

1. An assistant subject to the authority or control of another
   "The manager delegated most of the routine tasks to his subordinates";
   - subsidiary, underling, foot soldier, understrapper [informal]
    
2. A word that is more specific than a given word
   "'Poodle' is a subordinate of 'dog'";
   - hyponym, subordinate word

1. Make subordinate, dependent, or subservient
   "Our wishes have to be subordinated to that of our ruler";
   - subdue
    
2. Rank or order as less important or consider of less value
   "Art is sometimes subordinated to Science in these schools"

Derived forms: subordinating, subordinates, subordinated

See also: adjunct, assistant, associate, dependent, feudatory, inferior, position, ruled, status, subject, submissive, subservient, under

Type of: aid, assistant, grade, help, helper, lower, place, range, rank, rate, supporter, word

Antonym: insubordinate

Encyclopedia: Subordinate