pejorative

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

French 1882 péjorative (“depreciative, disparaging”), from Late Latin peioratus, past participle of peiorare (“make worse”), from Latin peior (“worse”). Compare English 1644 pejorate (“to worsen”), from the same etymology.

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /pɪˈdʒɒrətɪv/, X-SAMPA: /pI"dZQr@tIv/
• (GenAm) IPA: /pəˈdʒɔɹətɪv/, X-SAMPA: /p@"dZOr@tIv/

Adjective

pejorative (comparative more pejorative, superlative most pejorative)

1. Disparaging, belittling or derogatory.

Synonyms

• derogatory
• dyslogistic

Antonyms

• approbative
• eulogistic
• meliorative

Translations

disparaging, belittling or derogatory

• Catalan: pejoratiu (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 貶義的 (cmn), 贬义的 (cmn) (biǎnyì de), 輕蔑的的 (cmn), 轻蔑的 (cmn) (qīngmiè de)

• Czech: pejorativní (cs)
• Danish: nedsættende (da)
• Dutch: kleinerend (nl) denigrerend (nl)
• Finnish: halventava (fi), väheksyvä (fi), alentava (fi)
• French: péjoratif (fr)
• German: abschätzig (de), abwertend (de), herabsetzend (de), verschlechternd (de), verschlimmernd (de), pejorativ (de)
• Greek: υποτιμητικός (el) (ypotimitikós) m, εξευτελιστικός (el) (exeftelistikós) m

• Italian: peggiorativo (it)
• Japanese: 軽蔑的な (ja) (けいべつてきな, kēbetsuteki na); 侮蔑的な (ja) (ぶべつてきな, bubetsuteki na); 侮辱的な (ja) (ぶじょくてきな, bujokuteki na)
• Korean: 경멸어 (ko) (gyeong myeoreo), 경멸적인 (ko) (gyeong myeol jeogin)
• Norwegian: nedsettende (no)
• Polish: pejoratywny (pl) m
• Portuguese: pejorativo (pt)
• Romanian: peiorativ (ro)
• Russian: неодобрительный (ru) (neodobritelʹnyj), уничижительный (ru) (uničižítel’nyj), презрительный (ru) (prezrítel’nyj)
• Spanish: despectivo (es), peyorativo (es)
• Swedish: nedsättande (sv)
• Turkish: ablak (tr), alçaltıcı (tr), aşağılayıcı (tr), küçültücü (tr), yermeli (tr), pejoratif (tr) (sociology)

Noun

pejorative (plural pejoratives)

1. A disparaging, belittling, or derogatory word or expression.

Synonyms

• dyslogism
• dysphemism

Antonyms

• eulogism

Translations

disparaging, belittling or derogatory word or expression

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (word) 貶義詞 (cmn), 贬义词 (cmn) (biǎnyìcí), 輕蔑詞 (cmn), 轻蔑词 (cmn) (qīngmiècí), (expression) 貶義語 (cmn), 贬义语 (cmn) (biǎnyìyǔ), 輕蔑語 (cmn), 轻蔑语 (cmn) (qīngmièyǔ)

• Czech: pejorativum (cs) n
• Dutch: pejoratief (nl)
• Finnish: pejoratiivi (fi), haukkumasana (fi)

• German: Pejorativum (de) n
• Italian: peggiorativo (it) m
• Japanese: 軽蔑 (ja) (けいべつ, kēbetsu); 侮蔑 (ja) (ぶべつ, bubetsu); 侮辱 (ja) (ぶじょく, bujoku)
• Norwegian: pejorativ (no) n
• Portuguese: pejorativo (pt) m
• Romanian: peiorativ (ro) m
• Spanish: peyorativo (es) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Danish: pejorativt n
• Korean:

  hangul: 경멸

  romaja: gyeongmyeol

• Latin: peiorativus
• Macedonian: погрден (mk) (pógrden) m, навредлив (mk) (návredliv) m
• Portuguese: pejorativo (pt) m
• Swedish: pejorativt n

See also

• Category:English pejoratives

References

• “pejorative” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).