pejorative

See also: péjorative

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɪˈdʒɒɹətɪv/
• IPA^(key): /pəˈdʒɔɹəɾɪv/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

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
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: pejorativní (cs)
• Danish: nedsættende
• Dutch: kleinerend (nl) denigrerend (nl)
• Finnish: halventava (fi), väheksyvä, alentava (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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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)
• 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

• euphemism

Translations

disparaging, belittling or derogatory word or expression

• Afrikaans: pejoratief (af)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (word) 貶義詞／贬义词 (zh) (biǎnyìcí), 贬义词 (zh) (biǎnyìcí), 輕蔑詞／轻蔑词, 轻蔑词 (qīngmiècí), (expression) 貶義語／贬义语, 贬义语 (biǎnyìyǔ), 輕蔑語／轻蔑语, 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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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

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

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “pejorative”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.