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pejoration
[ pej-uh-rey-shuhn, pee-juh- ]
noun
- depreciation; a lessening in worth, quality, etc.
- Historical Linguistics. semantic change in a word to a lower, less approved, or less respectable meaning. Compare melioration ( def 1 ).
pejoration
/ ˌpiːdʒəˈreɪʃən /
noun
- linguistics semantic change whereby a word acquires unfavourable connotations Compare amelioration
the English word ``silly'' changed its meaning from ``holy'' or ``happy'' by pejoration
- the process of worsening; deterioration
Word History and Origins
Origin of pejoration1
Example Sentences
As a recent episode of the podcast Very Bad Words explains, the word has undergone “pejoration” since its inception, or a shift from neutral to negative.
The process of pejoration may take place below the level of consciousness, but in historical perspective, the direction of travel is obvious.
A colleague on the news desk, the subeditor James Eagle, says using “woman” as an adjective is “somewhere between a hypercorrection and pejoration, plus a dollop of condescending sexism masquerading as chivalry.”
Pejoration, pē-jō-rā′shun, n. a becoming worse: deterioration.—v.i.
I hope that these baths may arrest the disagreeable tendency to pejoration from which I have suffered in the past year.
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