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
-
Even more difficult in the day-to-day is Donald Trump’s relentless and insulting commentary.—
Ken Dryden,
The Atlantic,
23 Feb. 2025 -
The incredibly insulting idea of canceling the name of the prolific U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde was bad enough.—
Naperville Sun,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The president was also profoundly contemptuous of women, kept his true opposition to female suffrage carefully hidden, and allowed the suffragists who silently held banners outside the White House to be repeatedly attacked by mobs, beaten, and jailed.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
25 Feb. 2025
-
The arguments Republicans have made in their opposition to Joe Biden’s contemptuous pardons are pretty compelling.—
Noah Rothman,
National Review,
21 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Pope updates:Francis attends Mass hours after 'respiratory crisis,' remains critical What is a polymicrobial infection?—
John Bacon,
USA TODAY,
25 Feb. 2025
-
Though he’s been critical of California’s management, Trump has expressed an interest in high-speed rail.—
Ryan Fonseca,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Now, Microsoft has identified a resurfaced malware that has returned after years, equipped with new malicious capabilities, including stealing sensitive information such as digital wallets and data from the legitimate Notes app.—
Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report,
Fox News,
27 Feb. 2025
-
As the technology behind deepfakes advances, the need to fight their malicious usage has never been greater.—
Rohan Pinto,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
Prior to appearing on Cunningham's show on Monday, Huggins made more disparaging remarks about Xavier.—
Emily DeLetter,
The Enquirer,
10 May 2023
Adjective
-
President-Elect Donald Trump is openly disdainful of many governments in Europe and seems willing to walk away from America’s role as the continent’s protector.—
Phillips Payson O’Brien,
The Atlantic,
13 Jan. 2025
-
Now, the norms for AI will emerge in a political and cultural environment that's hostile to regulation and disdainful of limits.—
Scott Rosenberg,
Axios,
8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Smoke can travel hundreds of miles, significantly degrading air quality and posing serious health risks, particularly for individuals with preexisting respiratory or other health conditions.—
Joel Thayer,
Newsweek,
27 Jan. 2025
-
The first was in a degrading context: Brown University’s annual Spring Weekend, in 2013.—
Doreen St. Félix,
The New Yorker,
10 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
In conservative circles, the pejorative label stuck.—
Meg James,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Dec. 2024
-
These asylum seekers came to be known as Vietnamese boat people, a name that has come to be regarded as pejorative — the sort of dehumanizing language often used in indexing immigrants.—
Brendan Quinn,
The Athletic,
1 July 2024
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.
Cite this Entry
“Detractive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detractive. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share