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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for denigrative
Adjective
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The cast’s sole survivor is Jessica Hecht, who pours miraculous warmth and complexity into her faintly insulting role as Colleen, the head teller, a morally upright spinster goosed by her flirtation with Sonny and the spotlight.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
2 Apr. 2026 -
Drawing parallels between this unpopular war and World War II is ludicrous and insulting.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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In worst-case scenarios, malicious code can exploit weaknesses in your phone, create backdoor access and pull in even more data without your knowledge.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
9 Apr. 2026
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Over a four-week period starting on December 12, Black Lotus observed more than 290,000 distinct IP addresses sending at least one DNS request to the malicious APT28 DNS resolver.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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On Thursday, a group of bipartisan lawmakers introduced the Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware (MATCH) Act, designed to cut China off from chipmaking tools and target the country’s most critical semiconductor firms.—
Arjun Kharpal,
CNBC,
7 Apr. 2026
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Businesses along the Watt Avenue corridor say opening the shelter is critical to reducing neighborhood crime and blight.—
James Taylor,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Amnesty International has said that the use of the death penalty under the new measure could violate the right to life and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as enshrined in international law.—
Julia Frankel,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Mar. 2026
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For Hildegard…women’s maternal bodies were not corrupting and degrading, but strong, nurturing, and creative.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Arguments surrounding coercion, particularly when an abusive partner controls a victim’s reproductive care, became a major theme for the plaintiffs’ legal case.—
Geoff Mulvihill,
Chicago Tribune,
7 Apr. 2026
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The evidence will show the Court that Dakota has been the primary aggressor and has been violent and abusive toward me.—
Angela Andaloro,
PEOPLE,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The epitome of narcissism, demeaning and denigrating others upon their deaths (John McCain, Rob Reiner) who’ve displeased him is nothing new, but the Mueller post sinks to a new low.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
30 Mar. 2026
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To emphasize that new technology can’t change bad behavior, Josh mirrors many of the same demeaning and destructive traits of showrunner Paulie G (Lance Barber), the antagonist of Seasons One and Two.—
Jennifer Silverman,
Rolling Stone,
29 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Sara Hershkowitz’s wildly contemptuous Queen adds further soprano glory.—
Classical Music Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2026
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And Alexander Hamilton gets slightly better press than the other two, but he is shown as someone who is brilliant, but self-seeking, arrogant, snobbish, contemptuous of others, and profoundly two-faced.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Lorincz admitted to calling children in the neighborhood racial slurs and other derogatory terms in the past, according to a police report.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 Apr. 2026
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Which, basically, is a GEEK, or NERD, or BLERD (a Black nerd), or FANBOY, or FANGIRL, none of which are used here in any derogatory way, and are generally interchangeable.—
Christopher Borrelli,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Denigrative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/denigrative. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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