pejorative

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pe·jor·a·tive

(pĭ-jôr′ə-tĭv, -jŏr′-, pĕj′ə-rā′tĭv, pē′jə-)

adj.

Disparaging; belittling: "The label Neandertal took on a pejorative connotation decades ago; it implied boorishness at best and stupidity at worst" (Craig Stanford).

A disparaging or belittling word or expression.

pe·jor′a·tive·ly adv.

pejorative

(pɪˈdʒɒrətɪv; ˈpiːdʒər-)

adj

(of words, expressions, etc) having an unpleasant or disparaging connotation

a pejorative word, expression, etc

[C19: from French péjoratif, from Late Latin pējōrātus, past participle of pējōrāre to make worse, from Latin pēior worse]

peˈjoratively adv

pe•jo•ra•tive

(pɪˈdʒɔr ə tɪv, -ˈdʒɒr-, ˈpɛdʒ əˌreɪ-, ˈpi dʒə-)

adj.

1. having a disparaging, derogatory, or belittling effect or force, as a word.

2. a pejorative form or word, as poetaster.

[1880–85; < Late Latin pējōrāt(us), past participle of pējōrāre, derivative of pējor worse]

pe•jo′ra•tive•ly, adv.

pejorative

Used to describe an expression that means something unpleasant or derogatory.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.

pejorative - expressing disapproval; "dyslogistic terms like `nitwit' and `scalawag'"

dislogistic, dyslogistic

uncomplimentary - tending to (or intended to) detract or disparage

pejorative

adjective derogatory, negative, slighting, unpleasant, belittling, disparaging, debasing, deprecatory, uncomplimentary, depreciatory, detractive, detractory He used the word in a pejorative sense.

pejorative

adjective

Tending or intending to belittle:

deprecative, deprecatory, depreciative, depreciatory, derogative, derogatory, detractive, disparaging, low, slighting, uncomplimentary.

Translations

pejorativnípejorativum

pejorativPejorativum

peyorativo despectivo

péjoratif péjorative

peggiorativo

denigrerendkleinerendpejoratief

peiorativ

pejorative

[pɪˈdʒɒrətɪv] ADJ → peyorativo, despectivo

pejorative

[pɪˈdʒɒrətɪv] adj → péjoratif/ive

pejorative

adj, pejoratively

adv → pejorativ, abwertend, abschätzig

pejorative

[pɪˈdʒɒrɪtɪv] adj → spregiativo/a, peggiorativo/a

References in periodicals archive ?

The result says as much about how power works in society as it does about who chooses which pejorative label for whom in education.

Urban narratives; portraits in progress, life at the intersections of learning disability, race, and social class

Angry Karina Thompson said: "Faggot is a pejorative term for a gay man.

Pub pie is a sick joke

The chairman - former Home Office minister John Denham - accused Migration Watch of presenting immigration statistics in "the most sensational and pejorative ways".

Our border controls are crumbling, claims boss

IN response to those people who use the pejorative term "whingeing Scousers" to attack Liverpool folk who have the cheek to express their opinion.

You say: Demand the best

Considered a pejorative in the 1940s, white military officers used the term to demean their black counterparts.

BUFFALO SOLDIERS STILL ON THE TRAIL

In fact, "reformism" in his vocabulary is rather pejorative.

Cardinal Ratzinger: pastoral concerns with liturgy

Trying to keep up-to-date is the first step not on the way to wisdom but on the slide to oblivion--of being "history" in a pejorative sense.

Anthony Grafton. Bring Out Your Dead: The Past as Revelation

Boulevard weaves actual slave histories into its tale of Newell's sexual awakening, while No Place refuses to shy away from its characters' learned racism and use of the pejorative nigger.

Creole gumbo: acclaimed novelist Jim Grimsley and gifted newcomer Martin Pousson write about separate gay lives in Louisiana. (books)

Although Rockwell was delighted to be called an "illustrator," that word in a serious art context has unfortunately always been a pejorative.

Stormin' Norman. (Letters)

The Congolese called Baudouin "Mwana Kitoko" ("beautiful boy"), a pejorative nickname that his handlers quickly changed to "Bwana Kitoko," or "beautiful, noble man.

LUC TUYMANS

When I worked for him at Multinational Monitor, he'd use variations of the word "corporate" as a pejorative about six times every sentence.

Running Down Ralph

In a recent article in The Weekly Standard, conservative lawyer and PBS hostproducer Hugh Hewitt repeated the error, adding a layer of pejorative language.