pejorative Hear it!

pejorative definition

pe·jo·ra·tive (pi jôr′ə tiv, -jär′-; occas. pē′jə rāt′iv, pej′ə-)

adjective

  1. declining; making or becoming worse: applied to words whose basic meaning has changed for the worse (Ex.: knave, cretin)
  2. 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

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.