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negatory

[neg-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]
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adjective
  1. marked by negation; denying; negative.

Origin of negatory

From the Late Latin word negātōrius, dating back to 1570–80. See negate, -tory1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for negatory

Historical Examples

  • Dane made a negatory gesture, but Ormond anticipated his answer.

    The League of the Leopard

    Harold Bindloss

  • A quiet smile with a negatory shake of the head was the only answer.

  • Commissioners arch their eyebrows, with negatory sniff: who is this young gentleman with more wit than we all?

    The French Revolution

    Thomas Carlyle

  • For example, he should never be content with mere aggressive and negatory criticism of the page before him.

Word Origin and History for negatory

adj.

"expressing negation," 1570s, from Middle French negatoire or directly from Medieval Latin negatorius "negative," from Latin negatus, past participle of negare "deny, say no, to refuse" (see deny). In the sense "no" it is U.S. Air Force slang from the early 1950s.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper