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deprecative

[dep-ri-key-tiv, -kuh-tiv]
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adjective
  1. serving to deprecate; deprecatory.
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Origin of deprecative

1480–90; (< Anglo-French) < Late Latin dēprecātīvus, equivalent to dēprecāt(us) (see deprecate) + -īvus -ive
Related formsdep·re·ca·tive·ly, adverbnon·dep·re·ca·tive, adjectivenon·dep·re·ca·tive·ly, adverbun·dep·re·ca·tive, adjectiveun·dep·re·ca·tive·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for deprecative

Historical Examples

  • I yielded to an instinct for deprecative horse-play, one of my worst faults, begot of an inferiority-complex.

    Tramping on Life

    Harry Kemp

  • The gray man turned his opened palm outwards with a deprecative motion which was not English at all.

    The Pursuit

    Frank (Frank Mackenzie) Savile

  • They made their feelings public by scandalized aspirations, suppressed oh-h-hs, and deprecative shakings of the heads.

    The Bondboy

    George W. (George Washington) Ogden

Word Origin and History for deprecative

adj.

mid-15c., "praying for deliverance," from Middle French déprécatif (13c.), from Late Latin deprecativus, from past participle stem of Latin deprecari (see deprecation). Related: Deprecatively.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper