From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpejorativepe‧jo‧ra‧tive /pɪˈdʒɒrətɪv $ -ˈdʒɔː-, -ˈdʒɑː-/ adjective formal DISAPPROVEa word or expression that is pejorative is used to show disapproval or to insult someone For hard-line Republicans, the word ‘liberal’ had become a pejorative term. —pejoratively adverb
Examples from the Corpus
pejorative• The new terminology will quickly become pejorative.• A properly planned and monitored investment programme is needed, but ill informed and pejorative assertions are unhelpful.• The psychiatric model added other, more pejorative, associations with overweight.• And so it acquired its contemporary, pejorative connotation of idle chatter.• I was, and this is the most pejorative label in all of caddying, a bag carrier.• He used the word 'girl' in the pejorative sense when referring to the women who worked for him.• However, we should be wary lest use of such an emotive and pejorative term leads to premature dismissal of legitimate arguments.• During the Industrial Revolution, many Birmingham goods were cheap to buy, but does cheapness justify the pejorative term worthless?Origin pejorative (1800-1900) Late Latin pejoratus, past participle of pejorare “to make worse”, from Latin pejor “worse” 