inferiority complex

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

inferior′ity com′plex, 

1. Psychiatry intense feeling of inferiority, producing a personality characterized either by extreme reticence or, as a result of overcompensation, by extreme aggressiveness.
2. lack of self-esteem;
   feeling of inadequacy;
   lack of self-confidence.
• 1920–25

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

inferiority complex noun

1. a disorder which causes a person to feel inadequate or deficient when compared with others