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
-
There would be nothing more insulting to our democracy, and to the memory of those who died in connection to that day, than letting rioters walk free.—
Michael Gfoeller And David H. Rundell,
Newsweek,
15 Jan. 2025 -
This disastrous budget is even more insulting as Los Angeles County grapples with the devastation from four major fires.—
Bill Essayli,
Orange County Register,
11 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Tamil Nadu’s leaders have long been openly contemptuous of Hindu nationalism, and their governing philosophy represents a powerful alternative to Modi’s worldview.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
2 Jan. 2025
-
The Supreme Court could potentially blow up this trend The largest threat to the trend of fewer death sentences and executions is the Supreme Court’s Republican supermajority, which is often contemptuous of precedents handed down by earlier justices who Republican legal elites view as too liberal.—
Ian Millhiser,
Vox,
7 Dec. 2018
Adjective
-
Trump has often been critical of Chicago, which has some of the country’s strongest protections for people in the country without legal status.—
Todd Richmond and Elliot Spagat,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Jan. 2025
-
This convergence of opportunity and uncertainty sets the stage for a critical inflection point.—
Jason Snyder,
Forbes,
19 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Ultimately, the debate over the ability of malicious hackers to trigger a continent-wide blackout is moot and a distraction from the issue that really matters.—
Dan Goodin,
Ars Technica,
23 Jan. 2025
-
Android users can also keep Google Play Protect enabled to scan for malicious code—even on sideloaded apps.—
Kate Irwin,
PCMAG,
22 Jan. 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
-
Thanks to the internet and smartphones, children today have instant access to vast amounts of online pornography, much of it graphic, violent and degrading, Texas state attorneys told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.—
David G. Savage,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Jan. 2025
-
The source added that Trump’s history of attacking the Obama family and making degrading comments about people of color doesn’t sit well with her.—
Vivian Kwarm,
New York Daily News,
15 Jan. 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.
Thesaurus Entries Near detractive
Cite this Entry
“Detractive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detractive. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share