pejorative

American  

[pi-jawr-uh-tiv, -jor-] / pɪˈdʒɔr ə tɪv, -ˈdʒɒr- /

adjective

1. having a disparaging, derogatory, or belittling meaning or effect.

   The -ling in princeling is a pejorative suffix.

   Synonyms:

   deprecatory

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noun

1. a form or word that is disparaging, derogatory, or belittling, such as bean counter for an accountant, or the -nik in peacenik.

pejorative British  

/ pɪˈdʒɒrətɪv, ˈpiːdʒər- /

adjective

1. (of words, expressions, etc) having an unpleasant or disparaging connotation

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noun

1. a pejorative word, expression, etc

Other Word Forms

• nonpejorative adjective
• nonpejoratively adverb
• pejoratively adverb
• unpejorative adjective
• unpejoratively adverb

Etymology

Origin of pejorative

First recorded in 1880–85; from Latin pējōrāt(us) “made worse” ( pejoration ) + -ive

Explanation

Call a word or phrase pejorative if it is used as a disapproving expression or a term of abuse. Tree-hugger is a pejorative term for an environmentalist. Coming from the Latin word for "worse," pejorative is both an adjective and a noun. As an adjective, it means disapproving or disparaging. Hack is a pejorative term for a bad writer. If you call someone a politician in the pejorative sense, you mean that they are scheming and out for personal gain. Terms of abuse such as jerk and negative euphemisms such as bottom feeder are pejoratives, words you use when you want to call someone a bad name.

Example Sentences

But the street, now, is built on ideas of instant fame — “selling out,” once a pejorative, is now an ambition.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2025

What was once a pejorative term—“moonlighting”—morphed into a more-attractive “side hustle.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 19, 2025

"Mercenary" is a particularly pejorative word in Arabic.

From Barron's • Nov. 5, 2025

The tweets are written in all caps and are smattered with random old-guy quotation marks, parentheticals, and pejorative nicknames.

From Slate • Aug. 26, 2025

I’d stopped using the word fascinated to describe the way he engaged with me and my life, because the pejorative iteration of the word no longer seemed fair.

From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi