Meanings
comparative more derogatory · superlative most derogatory
- Disparaging.
It was perfectly plain, that fast and far as scandal flies, Lady Anne's words, when derogatory to the Count, and that beloved wife, for whose sake they would have been most resented, had never reached their retreat in Devonshire, much less followed them to distant Italy.
1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XL, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 218 - usuallyTending to derogate
1 more example
The Tories […] knew that […] the House which should be the first to come to a resolution would have a great advantage over the other. […] The Commons had determined that, on Monday the twenty-eighth of January, they would take into consideration the state of the nation. The Tory Lords therefore proposed, on Friday the twenty-fifth, to enter instantly on the great business […]. But […] Devonshire moved that Tuesday the twenty-ninth should be the day. “By that time,” he said with more truth than discretion, “we may have some lights from below which may be useful for our guidance.” His motion was carried; but his language was severely censured by some of his brother peers as derogatory to their order.
1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter X, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 626Synonyms: injurious
- Tending to derogate:
- usuallyLessening the worth of (a person, etc); expressing derogation; insulting.
Billie Jean King said Friday that the Australian Open’s Margaret Court Arena should have its name changed because of Court’s derogatory comments about gay and transgender people.
2018, Ben Rothenberg, The New York TimesSynonyms: injurious
- lawBeing or pertaining to a derogatory clause.
plural derogatories
- businessA tradeline on a credit report that indicates negative credit history.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveTending to derogate
adjectiveReducing the power or value of (a governmental body, etc); detracting from.
adjectiveLessening the worth of (a person, etc); expressing derogation; insulting.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveexpressive of low opinion
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindērogō
- Late Latindērogātōrius
- Englishderogatory
Borrowed from Late Latin dērogātōrius, from Latin dērogō; corresponding to derogate + -ory.
More words from Late Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans neerhalend
- neerhalendtending to lessen the value of
Arabic حَقِير, دَنِيء
- حَقِير (ḥaqīr)tending to lessen the value of
- دَنِيء (danīʔ)tending to lessen the value of
Bulgarian пренебрежителен, подценяващ
- пренебрежителен (prenebrežitelen)tending to lessen the value of
- подценяващ (podcenjavašt)tending to lessen the value of
Catalan derogatori, pejoratiu
- derogatorilegal clause
- pejoratiutending to lessen the value of
- despectiutending to lessen the value of
Chinese Mandarin 誹謗 /诽谤, 贬义
- 誹謗 /诽谤 (fěibàng)legal clause
- 贬义 (biǎnyì)tending to lessen the value of
Czech hanlivý, pohrdavý
- hanlivýtending to lessen the value of
- pohrdavýtending to lessen the value of
- ponižujícítending to lessen the value of
Danish nedsættende
- nedsættendetending to lessen the value of
Dutch denigrerend, beledigend
- denigrerendtending to lessen the value of
- beledigendtending to lessen the value of
- kleinerendtending to lessen the value of
Finnish derogatorinen, halventava
- derogatorinenlegal clause
- halventavatending to lessen the value of
- alentavatending to lessen the value of
French péjoratif, dépréciatif
- péjoratiftending to lessen the value of
- dépréciatiftending to lessen the value of
German derogativ, derogatorisch
- derogativlegal clause
- derogatorischlegal clause
- abwertendtending to lessen the value of
- pejorativtending to lessen the value of
- abfälligtending to lessen the value of
- beleidigendtending to lessen the value of
Greek υβριστικός, υποτιμητικός
- υβριστικός (yvristikós)legal clause
- υποτιμητικός (ypotimitikós)tending to lessen the value of
- μειωτικός (meiotikós)tending to lessen the value of
Hebrew פּוֹגֵעַ
- פּוֹגֵעַtending to lessen the value of
Hindi अपमानजनक
- अपमानजनक (apmānajnak)tending to lessen the value of
Hungarian elítélő, rosszalló
- elítélőtending to lessen the value of
- rosszallótending to lessen the value of
- pejoratívtending to lessen the value of
- lenézőtending to lessen the value of
- lekicsinylőtending to lessen the value of
- lefitymálótending to lessen the value of
Indonesian menghina, yg menghina
- menghinatending to lessen the value of
- yg menghinatending to lessen the value of
- bersifat merugikan orang laintending to lessen the value of
Italian offensivo, ingiurioso
- offensivotending to lessen the value of
- ingiuriosotending to lessen the value of
- contumeliosotending to lessen the value of
- insultantetending to lessen the value of
- riduttivotending to lessen the value of
- spregiativotending to lessen the value of
Korean 경멸적, 멸시적
- 경멸적 (gyeongmyeoljeok)tending to lessen the value of
- 멸시적 (myeolsijeok)tending to lessen the value of
Norwegian Bokmål nedsettende
- nedsettendetending to lessen the value of
Persian تحقیرآمیز
- تحقیرآمیز (tahqir-âmiz)tending to lessen the value of
Polish pejoratywny, pogardliwy
- pejoratywnytending to lessen the value of
- pogardliwytending to lessen the value of
Portuguese derrogatório, pejorativo
- derrogatóriolegal clause
- pejorativotending to lessen the value of
- depreciativotending to lessen the value of
- derrogatóriotending to lessen the value of
Romanian derogatoriu, defavorabil
- derogatoriutending to lessen the value of
- defavorabiltending to lessen the value of
- prejudiciatortending to lessen the value of
- dăunătortending to lessen the value of
- denigratortending to lessen the value of
- depreciativtending to lessen the value of
- peiorativtending to lessen the value of
Russian уничижи́тельный, пренебрежи́тельный
- уничижи́тельный (uničižítelʹnyj)tending to lessen the value of
- пренебрежи́тельный (prenebrežítelʹnyj)tending to lessen the value of
- презри́тельный (prezrítelʹnyj)tending to lessen the value of
Slovak uberajúci na hodnote, pejoratívny
- uberajúci na hodnotetending to lessen the value of
- pejoratívnytending to lessen the value of
- znevažujúcitending to lessen the value of
Spanish derogatorio, despreciativo
- derogatoriolegal clause
- despreciativotending to lessen the value of
- denigrantetending to lessen the value of
- menospreciativotending to lessen the value of
Swedish nedsättande
- nedsättandetending to lessen the value of
Turkish aşağılayıcı, küçümseyici
- aşağılayıcıtending to lessen the value of
- küçümseyicitending to lessen the value of
- pejoratiftending to lessen the value of
Ukrainian знева́жливий, прини́жуючий
- знева́жливий (znevážlyvyj)tending to lessen the value of
- прини́жуючий (prynýžujučyj)tending to lessen the value of
Welsh dirmygus
- dirmygustending to lessen the value of
Cite this entry
derogatory. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/derogatory
“derogatory.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/derogatory. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “derogatory,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/derogatory.
Source: derogatory on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.