pejorative
pejorative
Definition
pe·jo·ra·tive (pi jôr′ə tiv, -jär′-; occas. pē′jə rāt′iv, pej′ə-)
adjective
- declining; making or becoming worse: applied to words whose basic meaning has changed for the worse (Ex.: knave, cretin)
- disparaging or derogatory
Etymology: < L pejoratus, pp. of pejorare, to make worse < pejor, worse, orig., inclined downward < IE base *ped-, foot
noun
a pejorative word or form
pe·jo′·ra·tively adverb
pejorative
Synonyms
pejorative
Usage Examples
Modifies a noun
- connotation: Bach argues against the pejorative connotations of " optical illusion " , which suggests they are visual malfunctions.
- overtone: Myths are deadly serious Modern mythologists use the term ' myth ' without any pejorative overtones.
- sense: Indeed, this pejorative sense was exactly what brought the word back into use in the mid-nineteenth century.
- term: To avoid the pejorative term ' wasteland ' , Oliver Gilbert has proposed that such areas be termed ' urban commons ' .
- meaning: The latter began to take an ever more pejorative meaning.
- word: Second, Scots pejorative words for young people of the ' lower orders ' .
Modifying Another Word
- slightly: Prime Minister: I think that is a slightly pejorative way of putting what I was saying.
- purely: Interestingly, the allocation of the label ' evil ' was neither random nor a purely pejorative act.
- clearly: Some ( pseudoseizures, hysterical fits ) are clearly pejorative and have been abandoned.
- not: So in Scots then there were not pejorative overtones to chavvy.
Used with adjective complement
- become: It could be a fairly neutral term, but as the editorial proceeds it becomes quite pejorative with many negative overtones.
