Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
👎 Disapproval 📝 Meaning becomes negative ⬇️ Becoming worse
pejoration

pejoration

9.9
When a word gets a more negative meaning over time
  • noun
  • /pɪˈdʒɔːreɪʃən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : peyoración
  • The term 'spinster' is an example of pejoration in English vocabulary.

Examples

  • Linguists study pejoration to understand how language reflects changing social attitudes.

  • The word 'silly' has undergone pejoration over the centuries.

  • Over centuries, some words undergo pejoration and become insults.

  • Pejoration can change the way we perceive certain terms.

  • The pejoration of the term 'feminism' has led to misunderstandings about its true meaning.

  • Language evolves over time, and pejoration can change the way we interpret certain words.

  • Many scholars study the pejoration of words to understand cultural shifts in society.

Antonyms

amelioration
2 7.9

A change that makes something better or less severe

How Negative

pejoration
  • Specialized
9.9
amelioration
2 7.9

Surface Forms

pejoration singular
pejorations plural

Morphology

pejoration = pejorative (semi-transparent) = pejor + ation

Built from the combining form 'pejor-' plus '-ation'; the term is a technical linguistic label (process of semantic shift) so it is predictable from the base but somewhat specialized.

Etymology

Pejoration comes from Latin pejor 'worse' and is used by language experts to mean when a word's meaning becomes more negative over time. That's why a word that was not negative can slowly turn into an insult through pejoration.