depejoratieve

Depejoratieve is a term used in linguistics to describe the process by which a word or expression loses its pejorative or insulting connotations and shifts toward neutrality or even positive valence. In Dutch usage, the adjective depejoratief or the noun depejorativiteit is employed to discuss this phenomenon. Depejoration is often contrasted with pejoration (gaining a more negative meaning) and with euphemistic or resemantic strategies that reshape usage without fully removing stigma.

Mechanisms behind depejoration include semantic bleaching (loss of intensity), broadening of reference, reappropriation by a social group, and shifts in social attitudes that reframe a term as acceptable within certain communities or registers. The change is typically gradual, context-dependent, and may be highly variable across dialects, genres, and speaker populations. In some cases, depejorative terms persist as taboo outside specific in-group contexts.

Examples commonly discussed in sociolinguistics include cases where terms associated with stigmatized groups have been reclaimed or neutralized through deliberate use by those groups. The English term queer is often cited as an instance of amelioration within LGBTQ+ communities, although it remains potentially pejorative in other contexts. Dutch and other languages show analogous patterns, illustrating the social nature of semantic change.

See also: pejorative, amelioration, reappropriation, semantic change, sociolinguistics.