as in slighting
intended to make a person or thing seem of little importance or value
he typically followed up any mention of his accomplishments with some deprecatory comments about his perceived failures
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Recent Examples of deprecatory
This subsided with unusual speed, however, as cricket fans took instead to sharing the self-deprecatory jokes coming over the border.
—
The Economist, 22 June 2019
Philipps has acquired her 1-million-and-growing Instagram followers through her self-deprecatory humor, raw honesty and vulnerability.
—Sonja Haller, USA TODAY, 11 July 2018
What the show is really selling is the Chang attitude and mystique, a combination of ego, exactitude, foul-mouthed rebelliousness and self-deprecatory nerdiness.
—Mike Hale, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2018
The Economist, 22 June 2019
Philipps has acquired her 1-million-and-growing Instagram followers through her self-deprecatory humor, raw honesty and vulnerability.
—Sonja Haller, USA TODAY, 11 July 2018
What the show is really selling is the Chang attitude and mystique, a combination of ego, exactitude, foul-mouthed rebelliousness and self-deprecatory nerdiness.
—Mike Hale, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deprecatory
Adjective
-
The result was viciously insulting, not the sort of thing anyone would want to read about themselves.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
18 July 2025
-
To not even reach 10 percent is insulting to all involved and indicates how much needs to change, which is exactly what a group of industry power players are attempting to do in Nashville.—
Steve Baltin,
Forbes.com,
23 July 2025
Adjective
-
McLaughlin said about 150 protesters gathered nearby and directed derogatory comments at ICE and partner personnel.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
15 Aug. 2025
-
The question surprised the three of us because no one was saying anything personal or derogatory about Smith.—
Christine Brennan,
CNN Money,
6 July 2025
Adjective
-
In fact, locals use a different (and pejorative) term for the other versions: arroz con cosas, or rice with things.—
Sofia Perez,
Forbes.com,
10 July 2025
-
Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni is insulting because a macaroni was a pejorative term used to describe a fashionable man with feminine traits of 18th-century Britain.—
Kurt Snibbe,
Oc Register,
2 July 2025
Adjective
-
Accessing the code prompts recipients to provide personal and financial information, or can lead to downloading malicious software.—
Laura Daniella Sepulveda,
AZCentral.com,
15 Aug. 2025
-
Victims are then defrauded again, with more money lost to these malicious recovery schemes.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Though the pollen gunk will pass, he's concerned by a contingent of Twitter trolls who've shared uncomplimentary reviews of his recent North American tour.—
Jordan Runtagh,
PEOPLE.com,
21 Jan. 2022
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Neither party admitted to liability and each agreed to refrain from making disparaging, negative or uncomplimentary statements about the other, the document said.—
Lorraine Mirabella,
Baltimore Sun,
29 July 2022
Adjective
-
Trump, too, is scornful of what European diplomacy could achieve, declaring recently that Iran doesn’t want to talk to Europe.—
Garret Martin,
The Conversation,
15 July 2025
-
The cast gets a huge boost at midseason with the arrival of John Leguizamo, equally broadly funny and vulnerable as Dave’s disgraced former partner, and Anna Chlumsky, hilariously scornful as a law enforcement outsider who gets brought into the story’s chaos.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
26 June 2025
Adjective
-
The lawsuit plaintiffs certainly don’t see any benefit to being represented in any capacity by an organization whose leaders are openly contemptuous of their faith, their values and their culture.—
Jeff Rhodes,
Oc Register,
30 July 2025
-
In dealing with this Administration, with its maximalist conception of executive authority and its contemptuous attitude toward the judiciary, the Justices are being played for fools.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Trump has even been disdainful or dismissive of the United States’ traditional allies, such as Mexico and Argentina.—
Christopher Sabatini,
Foreign Affairs,
8 Nov. 2017
-
Wise minds inside the Trump administration will hopefully choose to drop a suit first introduced during by a Biden administration reflexively disdainful of big.—
John Tamny,
Forbes.com,
10 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deprecatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deprecatory. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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