highly derogatory
- adjective
- /ˈhaɪli dɪˈrɒɡətəri/
- Offensive
:
altamente despectivo
- Otherwise, it is difficult to explain why the vision of America as an earthly paradise persisted in the Irish countryside in spite of a much larger mass of written and oral testimony that conveyed sober, cautious, and even highly derogatory descriptions of conditions in the New World.
Cohog was a highly derogatory nickname for women students and the judge of the competition was the Dean of the college.
- Cohog was a highly derogatory nickname for women students and the judge of the competition was the Dean of the college.
Examples
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Cohog was a highly derogatory nickname for women students and the judge of the competition was the Dean of the college.
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Her comments about the team were highly derogatory, reflecting a lack of respect for their efforts.
-
Maybe they realize that a few immature Neanderthals are no more representative of the USA than the foolish loose cannon and convicted felon who made the highly derogatory film about Islam's prophet?
Blog text (3) -
Many consider referring to someone as a "feminazi" to be a highly derogatory term that should be avoided in civil discourse.
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Using highly derogatory language during the debate only served to alienate the audience further.
Synonyms
531
1.3
Causing a strong feeling of dislike or making you feel sick
457
1.8
Words or actions that hurt people
261
4.0
Likely to make people angry or upset
130
3.0
Being rude or saying things that hurt someone
126
5.1
Very unpleasant in a way that makes people angry or upset
70
4.9
Using insulting words or hurtful behavior toward another person
42
7.8
Very unpleasant and morally wrong to most people
39
6.9
Expressing an insulting, disrespectful view of someone or something
30
4.6
Something that makes people feel dislike or disgust
23
7.7
Causing strong dislike or disgust because people see it as morally wrong
20
7.7
Causing strong disgust or hatred in people
15
8.2
Showing strong dislike of someone or something, often used about words
10
9.9
Saying rude and untrue things to hurt someone's reputation
9
7.7
Showing you do not respect someone and think they are silly
9
6.5
Very unpleasant and causing people to feel strong dislike or hate
2
6.6
Very rude and likely to make people feel angry or hurt
1
7.0
Showing a low opinion of someone or something
Showing a bad opinion of someone to make them seem less important
Showing disapproval by insulting or criticizing someone
To use harsh, insulting words to describe someone to hurt or shock them
Very unpleasant and likely to make people feel disgusted
Causing a strong feeling of dislike or making people feel sick
Antonyms
How Insulting
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'highly' (extremely) simply intensifies 'derogatory' (insulting), yielding 'extremely insulting'. This adverb + gradable-adjective pattern is common in English and many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer the phrase meaning.
Etymology
Highly derogatory comes from joining highly (meaning 'very much') with derogatory, an old word that meant 'to lower someone's value or good name'. Picture words that try to push a person down — that's why the phrase means 'extremely insulting' today.