We here at Shmoop are big fans of equality. It makes life, and math, much easier to deal with. Sometimes, though, we can't escape the inequalities of life.
The word "inequality" basically means that a number is "inequal" to, or unequal to, or not equal to, or not the same as, another number. In other words, it can be "greater than" or "less than" that number: > or <.
But not (>_<). That's an emoticon.
Some inequalities allow just a little bit of equality: ≥ and ≤. Those are "greater than or equal to" and "less than or equal to." We'd prefer full equality (and a milkshake, and a million dollars, and world peace, and and and), but baby steps.