pejorative

See also: péjorative

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɪˈd͡ʒɒɹətɪv/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɪˈd͡ʒɔɹətɪv/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /pɪˈd͡ʒɑɹətɪv/
  • (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /pəˈd͡ʒɔɹətəv/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Adjective

pejorative (comparative more pejorative, superlative most pejorative)

1. Disparaging, belittling or derogatory.

Synonyms

• derogatory
• dyslogistic
• disrespectful

Antonyms

• ameliorative
• approbative
• eulogistic
• meliorative

Derived terms

• pejoratively
• pejorativeness
• pejorativization

 

Translations

disparaging, belittling or derogatory

• Bulgarian: неодобрителен (bg) (neodobritelen), омаловажаващ (bg) (omalovažavašt)
• Catalan: pejoratiu
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 貶義的／贬义的 (zh) (biǎnyì de), 輕蔑的／轻蔑的 (zh) (qīngmiè de)

• Czech: pejorativní (cs)
• Danish: nedsættende
• Dutch: kleinerend (nl) denigrerend (nl)
• Finnish: halventava (fi), väheksyvä, alentava (fi), pejoratiivinen (fi)
• French: péjoratif (fr)
• Galician: pexorativo m
• German: abschätzig (de), abwertend (de), herabsetzend (de), verschlechternd (de), verschlimmernd (de), pejorativ (de)
• Greek: υποτιμητικός (el) m (ypotimitikós), εξευτελιστικός (el) m (exeftelistikós), μειωτικός (el) m (meiotikós)
• Hungarian: pejoratív (hu)
• Italian: peggiorativo, riduttivo (it) m
• Japanese: 軽蔑的な (けいべつてきな, keibetsuteki na); 侮蔑的な (ぶべつてきな, bubetsuteki na); 侮辱的な (ぶじょくてきな, bujokuteki na)
• Korean: 경멸어 (gyeongmyeoreo), 경멸적인 (gyeongmyeoljeogin)
• Macedonian: погрден m (pogrden), пејорати́вен m (pejoratíven)
• Malayalam: അപകീർത്തികരമായ (apakīṟttikaramāya)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nedsettende (no)

  Nynorsk: nedsetjande

• Polish: pejoratywny (pl) m
• Portuguese: pejorativo (pt)
• Romanian: peiorativ (ro)
• Russian: неодобри́тельный (ru) (neodobrítelʹnyj), уничижи́тельный (ru) (uničižítelʹnyj), презри́тельный (ru) (prezrítelʹnyj)
• Spanish: despectivo (es), peyorativo (es)
• Swedish: nedsättande (sv), pejorativ (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

• approvative
• euphemism

Translations

disparaging, belittling or derogatory word or expression

• Afrikaans: pejoratief (af)
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: pejorativum (cs) n
• Danish: pejorativ, nedsættende udsagn n
• Dutch: pejoratief (nl)
• Finnish: pejoratiivi (fi), haukkumasana
• German: Pejorativum (de) n
• Italian: peggiorativo m
• Japanese: 軽蔑 (ja) (けいべつ, keibetsu); 侮蔑 (ja) (ぶべつ, bubetsu); 侮辱 (ja) (ぶじょく, bujoku)
• Macedonian: пејорати́в m (pejoratív)
• Norwegian: pejorativ n
• Portuguese: pejorativo (pt) m
• Romanian: peiorativ (ro) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пежоратив m, пејоратив m

  Latin: pežorativ m, pejorativ (sh) m

• Spanish: peyorativo (es) m
• Swedish: pejorativ (sv) n
• Turkish: aşağılama (tr), hakaret (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 경멸 (ko) (gyeongmyeol)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} peiorativus
• Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} погрден m (pogrden), ^{(please verify)} навредлив m (navredliv)

References

• “pejorative”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “pejorative”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.