Pejorative

//pɪˈd͡ʒɒɹətɪv// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A disparaging, belittling, or derogatory word or expression.

    "“Get away from me, freak.” “Actually, my designation is Logic-y. I take issue with the pejorative when I am simply a product of your self-inflicted bifurcation.”"

Adjective
  1. 1
    Disparaging, belittling or derogatory.
Adjective
  1. 1
    expressing disapproval wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
derogatoryabusiveback-bitingbelittlingbitchycalumniatory

Example

More examples

""Social justice warrior" (often shortened to SJW) is a pejorative term used on both the left and right to refer to left-wing individuals perceived as promoting or imposing their beliefs in an excessively aggressive manner."

Etymology

From Late Latin peiōrātus (past participle of peiōrāre (“make worse”), from Latin peior (“worse”)) + -ive. Compare French péjoratif (“depreciative, disparaging”). By surface analysis, pejorate + -ive.

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