pejorative
American Heritage Dictionary:
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pe·jor·a·tive
(pĭ-jôr'ə-tĭv, -jŏr'-, pĕj'ə-rā'tĭv, pē'jə-) 
adj.
A disparaging or belittling word or expression.
pejoratively pe·jor'a·tive·ly adv.
adj.
- Tending to make or become worse.
- Disparaging; belittling.
A disparaging or belittling word or expression.
pejoratively pe·jor'a·tive·ly adv.
Roget's Thesaurus:
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pejorative
adjective
- Tending or intending to belittle: deprecative, deprecatory, depreciative, depreciatory, derogative, derogatory, detractive, disparaging, low, slighting, uncomplimentary. See praise/blame.
Antonyms by Answers.com:
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pejorative
adj
Definition: negative, belittling
Antonyms: complimentary, positive, praising
Word Tutor:
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pejorative
IN BRIEF: Tending to demean or belittle. Also: A belittling or disparaging word or expression.
Because, for example, the phrase "mass culture" is commonly perceived as carrying pejorative connotations, many of those who really enjoy it and write positively about it prefer to use the term "popular culture."
— Michael Kammen
LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!
Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'pejorative'
- Demanding, Critical, Calculating, or Selfish
- Disapproval, Disrespect, and Denial - pejorative: (adj) tending to disparage or devalue
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Pejorative
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Look up pejorative, derisive, derogatory, or dyslogistic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Pejoratives[1] (or terms of abuse, derogatory terms), including name slurs,[2] are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social or cultural groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts. Sometimes a term may begin as a pejorative and eventually be adopted in a non-pejorative sense in some or all contexts, e.g., "punk," "Methodist," or "Quaker". In historical linguistics, this phenomenon is known as melioration, or amelioration, or semantic change.[3]
Name slurs can also involve an insulting or disparaging innuendo,[2] rather than being a direct derogatory remark. In some cases, a person's name can be redefined with an unpleasant or insulting meaning, or applied to a group of people considered to be inferior or lower in social class, as a group label with a disparaging meaning. Also, an ethnic slur or racial slur can be used as a pejorative to imply people of those groups are inferior or deficient.
See also
References
- ^ "Pejorative | Define Pejorative at Dictionary.com". Dictionary.reference.com. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pejorative. Retrieved 2012-04-25.
- ^ a b "Slur - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary". Merriam-webster.com. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slur. Retrieved 2012-04-25.
- ^ Croom, Adam M. (May 2011). "Slurs". Language Sciences (Elsevier) 33 (3): 343–358. doi:10.1016/j.langsci.2010.11.005. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VD2-51PBJ21-1&_user=489256&_coverDate=05%2F31%2F2011&_rdoc=2&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_origin=browse&_zone=rslt_list_item&_srch=doc-info(%23toc%235970%232011%23999669996%233020754%23FLA%23display%23Volume)&_cdi=5970&_sort=d&_docanchor=&_ct=11&_acct=C000022721&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=489256&md5=f94b3fbfef3504c7d540c69149e5bf56&searchtype=a.
Further reading
- Croom, Adam M. "Slurs." Language Sciences, Volume 33, Number 3, May 2011, pp. 343-358. Published by Elsevier.
- Henderson, Anita. "What's in a Slur?" American Speech, Volume 78, Number 1, Spring 2003, pp. 52–74 in Project MUSE
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Translations:
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Pejorative
Dansk (Danish)
adj. - pejorativ (ord med nedsættende betydning)
n. - pejorativ
Nederlands (Dutch)
kleinerend, beledigend, een kleinerend/ beledigend woord
Français (French)
adj. - péjoratif
n. - mot péjoratif
Deutsch (German)
adj. - abwertend
n. - Pejorativum
Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - μειωτικός, υποτιμητικός, περιφρονητικός
n. - μειωτικός όρος
Italiano (Italian)
peggiorativo
Português (Portuguese)
adj. - pejorativo
n. - termo pejorativo (m)
Русский (Russian)
уничижительный, пренебрежительный
Español (Spanish)
adj. - peyorativo, despectivo
n. - desprecio
Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - nedsättande, pejorativ
n. - nedsättande ord
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
轻蔑的, 贬抑的, 轻蔑语
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 輕蔑的, 貶抑的
n. - 輕蔑語
한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 개악하는, 비난의 뜻을 더하는
n. - 경멸어, 경멸 접미사
日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 悪化させるような, 軽蔑的な
n. - 悪化語
العربيه (Arabic)
(صفه) تحقيري (الاسم) كلمه تحقيريه, إزدرائي, منقص من القدر
עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - מזלזל, בעל נימת גנאי, מידרדר, משתנה לרעה
n. - מילה מפחיתת-ערך
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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