Outnumbered

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Finding oneself in a circumstance where there are fewer members compared to opponents occurs when one group has more individuals involved than another group does
2. An instance that describes a situation where one faction possesses greater numbers than another faction shows the imbalance in numerical strength
3. Being in a situation where a group has fewer participants than its competitor

Etymology: "Outnumbered" is the past form of "outnumber," so it inherits its history from that verb. The verb is a plain compound: "out-" (from Old English "ūt," meaning "beyond" or "more than") joined to "number." The "number" part reaches English through Middle English "nombre," which came from Anglo-Norman "noumbre," itself from Latin "numerus." That Latin root sits behind a long chain of counting words in the European languages. The Old English "ūt" that gives the prefix its sense of surpassing has a much older Germanic ancestry, traceable to Proto-Germanic "ūt," and it is the same root that produced the ordinary adverb "out." In "outnumber," the prefix does the comparative work: to outnumber someone is to exceed them in number, so the word's meaning is built almost entirely from these two parts.

Synonyms: overmatched, outclassed, outgunned, overpowered

Antonyms: outnumbering