Definition of inferior planet in US English:

inferior planet


  • Either of the two planets Mercury and Venus, whose orbits are closer to the sun than the earth's.

    Compare with superior planet
    • ‘Mercury and Venus are inferior planets, those with orbits smaller than the Earth's.’
    • ‘The inferior planets Mercury and Venus (which constitute the biological and lower levels of the mind) are under natural law; that is, they work as rhythm and reflex, you can't stop them.’
    • ‘For the inferior planets, Mercury and Venus, when they are between earth and the Sun, they appear to move direct; however, when they are on the other side of the sun (Sun is between the planet and earth), they appear retrograde.’
    • ‘Mercury is an inferior planet, in detriment and fall, and even in the sign of Jupiter, an indication of capture.’