inequality
n. C / Un. a situation where some people have more money, rights, or opportunities than others. It describes when things are not shared fairly or equally across a group.
n. the state of being unequal, especially in terms of status, rights, and opportunities. Often used in sociological and economic contexts to describe systemic disparities between social classes or demographic groups.
The government is trying to reduce income inequality.
The report highlights the growing inequality in access to healthcare between urban and rural populations.
While the country's overall wealth has increased, the widening gap of economic inequality suggests that these gains have not been distributed equitably across the various social strata.
From Middle English inequalite, from Old French inequalité, from Medieval Latin inaequālitās, from Latin inaequālis (“unequal”), from in- (“not”) + aequālis (“equal”). Morphologically inequal + -ity and in- + equality.
Uncountable when referring to the general state of being unequal; countable when referring to specific instances or mathematical expressions.