as in slighting
intended to make a person or thing seem of little importance or value
used the detractive epithet "McJob" to describe what his feckless son-in-law did for work
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detractive
Adjective
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Conversations revealed an ongoing dialogue that was not only deeply insulting to Read, but morally offensive to women broadly.—
Gemma Allen,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2025 -
Trump’s orders are insulting to state and local officials, but especially to the Marines.—
Tom Zirpoli,
Baltimore Sun,
17 June 2025
Adjective
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That’s fine by an administration that seems basically contemptuous of the very concept of due process.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
31 May 2025
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Think of the public dissection of and collective sneer toward pop darlings suffering mental health crises, like Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan, or the contemptuous treatment of Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential run.—
Maya Salam,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
While uncertainty is an inevitable part of the industry, consulting firms have an enormous opportunity to rise above disruption by aligning their strategies with three critical focus areas: innovation, operational efficiency and a people-first mindset.—
Amy Bjarnason,
Forbes.com,
24 June 2025
-
That mindset is gone—owners are sinking money into the franchises, which is critical as the players negotiate their new CBA.—
Kurt Badenhausen,
Sportico.com,
24 June 2025
Adjective
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The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
28 June 2025
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Nor are alligators the consistently malicious snappers of Kristi Noem’s dreams.—
Pat Beall,
Sun Sentinel,
27 June 2025
Adjective
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The 2023 Economic Report Of The President published in March of 2023 was relatively disparaging of cryptoassets and DLTs.—
Lawrence Wintermeyer,
Forbes,
5 Dec. 2024
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Prior to appearing on Cunningham's show on Monday, Huggins made more disparaging remarks about Xavier.—
Emily DeLetter,
The Enquirer,
10 May 2023
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
Adjective
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Utilities can ask similar questions about households with pool pumps or those that show signs of inefficient or degrading appliances.—
Abhay Gupta,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2025
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But while the Internet is torn over whether Carpenter’s submissive position on the Man’s Best Friend cover is funny or degrading, Whoopi Goldberg was more concerned with something else.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
12 June 2025
Adjective
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Wife guy, always a little mocking, curdled into the plainly pejorative.—
Jeremy Gordon,
The Atlantic,
9 June 2025
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The frequent Trump epithet losers would be a suitably pejorative modern equivalent.—
Graham Robb,
The Atlantic,
9 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Detractive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detractive. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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