Definition of "derogatory" adjective comparative more derogatory , superlative most derogatory
Disparaging . quotations examples
Quotations It was perfectly plain , that fast and far as scandal flies , Lady Anne 's words , when derogatory to the Count , and that beloved wife , for whose sake they would have been most resented , had never reached their retreat in Devonshire , much less followed them to distant Italy .
1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XL, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], page 218
(usually with to) Tending to derogate : quotations
Quotations The Tories […] knew that […] the House which should be the first to come to a resolution would have a great advantage over the other . […] The Commons had determined that , on Monday the twenty -eighth of January , they would take into consideration the state of the nation . The Tory Lords therefore proposed , on Friday the twenty -fifth , to enter instantly on the great business […]. But […] Devonshire moved that Tuesday the twenty -ninth should be the day . “By that time ,” he said with more truth than discretion , “we may have some lights from below which may be useful for our guidance .” His motion was carried ; but his language was severely censured by some of his brother peers as derogatory to their order .
1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter X, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, page 626