MEANING
Giving one person or group better treatment, access, or terms than others receive.
Use it for
describing unequal access or priority; comparing benefits provided to different groups; evaluating a policy that deliberately favors a categoryMakes unequal priority or terms explicit without automatically judging them fair or unfair. Academic functions: Comparison / Contrast, Analysis / Interpretation.
Words that belong together
- preferential treatment
- preferential access
- preferential terms
On the page
The policy gives preferential access to applicants from underserved districts.
The economist compares preferential lending terms with the conditions offered to other borrowers.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- preferential
Usage notes
Adjective, often before a noun: preferential treatment, preferential access. State who receives the preference and the comparison group. Register: formal. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
Keep a thought for later. Sign in to save privately.