Despective

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A disparaging/derogatory word or form of a word; a word or form indicative of the speaker's tendency to look down on the referent.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Disparaging, derogatory; looking down upon.

    "‘Pencil pusher’ is a despective term for ‘administrative clerk’."

Example

More examples

"‘Pencil pusher’ is a despective term for ‘administrative clerk’."

Etymology

From despect + -ive.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.