denigrative

adjective

Definition of denigrativenext
as in insulting
intended to make a person or thing seem of little importance or value thanked her for the gift and then added the denigrative aside, "Not that it's anything special!"

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for denigrative
  1. insulting
  2. malicious
  3. critical
  4. degrading
  5. abusive
  6. demeaning
  7. contemptuous
  8. derogatory
Adjective
  • Some job seekers say AI interviews can feel impersonal, stilted, and downright insulting.
    — Sarah Jackson Juhohn Lee, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Even more insulting was the cold, transactional nature of the intrusion.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of insulting
Adjective
  • Once installed, the malicious app pushes you to enable Android's Accessibility service.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Companies should detect prompt injection, malicious or compromised tools, behavioral anomalies, data exfiltration and other threats.
    — Shashwat Sehgal, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of malicious
Adjective
  • But expanding domestic and allied capacity to manufacture the most critical medicines and ingredients — and maintain adequate strategic reserves — would dramatically reduce China’s leverage in any future crisis.
    — Patrick McHenry, STAT, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Hospital Association reports critical shortages of health care workers across the state.
    — Sydney Lake, Fortune, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of critical
Adjective
  • At Fuerte Guaicaipuro, a military facility, investigators documented detainees being confined in pit-like cells dug below ground level and subjected to cold, food deprivation and other degrading treatment.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The beating can look degrading, but the check might protect opportunities for hundreds of athletes who never appear in the game.
    — Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of degrading
Adjective
  • Livia’s sister-in-law invokes the poem when Livia learns, to her surprise, that her manipulative, abusive mother had been a frustrated musician.
    — Sam Worley, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Rating sites filled up with one-star scores, and the social media accounts of cast members drew abusive comments.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of abusive
Adjective
  • Leeman also said the jury was denied the full context of Allen’s time in solitary confinement, such as the audio depicting demeaning and extreme behavior.
    — Jen Guadarrama, IndyStar, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Chanen is among a new generation of wives and girlfriends of pro athletes, aka WAGs, who have proudly reclaimed the once-demeaning term.
    — Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of demeaning
Adjective
  • Below the surface, there is a lot of contemptuous finger-pointing about where the anti-AI energy now coursing through the political-media landscape is coming from.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Relative to the contemptuous silence of the Mike Ashley regime, there is no comparison — but even when compared to previous post-takeover administrations, Newcastle are being more communicative.
    — Chris Waugh, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of contemptuous
Adjective
  • The Webster Wallace profile is responsible for several other derogatory posts about the mayor, as well.
    — Reed Williams, AJC.com, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham also issued an apology in November to BYU and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for derogatory chants by fans during the Bearcats’ game against the Cougars.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of derogatory
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

denigrations
denigrative
denigrator
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Denigrative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/denigrative. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All