Derogatory Meaning

/dɪˈɹɒɡətɹi/
C1

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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adjDisparaging.

adjTending to derogate

You don't need to say it in such derogatory terms.
She made some derogatory remarks about her colleagues.
Synonyms:
None
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
His ____ comments about her intelligence were deeply offensive.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You don't need to say it in such ____ terms.

Borrowed from Late Latin dērogātōrius, from Latin dērogō; corresponding to derogate + -ory.

"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:
"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 626:
"Acts of Parliament derogatory from the power of subsequent Parliaments bind not." — 1768, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England:
"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 Times:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
His ____ comments about her intelligence were deeply offensive.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You don't need to say it in such ____ terms.

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