# Approbative

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approbative
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{{Short description|Words or grammatical forms that denote positive affects}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2025}}

In [linguistics](/source/linguistics), '''approbatives''' are words or grammatical forms that denote a positive [affect](/source/Affect_(linguistics)); that is, they express the appreciation or approval of the speaker.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of APPROBATIVE |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/approbative |access-date=2025-08-05 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-19 |title=Approbative vs Approbatory: Meaning And Differences |url=https://thecontentauthority.com/blog/approbative-vs-approbatory |access-date=2025-08-05 |language=en-US}}</ref> ''{{lang|es|!Claro!}}'' (Spanish) and "Gotcha!" (English) are examples.

Sometimes a term may begin as a [pejorative](/source/pejorative) word and eventually be adopted in an approbative sense. In [historical linguistics](/source/historical_linguistics), this phenomenon is known as ''[amelioration](/source/Semantic_change)''. Examples from [English](/source/english_language) include "[punk](/source/punk_subculture)", "[nerd](/source/nerd)", "badass", "sick", and "killer".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tiwari |first=Matangi |date=2025-01-28 |title=How do bad words turn good? |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/blog/2025/01/28/how-do-bad-words-turn-good/ |access-date=2025-08-05 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==See also==
{{wiktionary}}
*[Laudative](/source/Laudative), or praising affect
*[Pejorative](/source/Pejorative), or negative affect

==References==
{{reflist}}

Category:Connotation
*

{{sociolinguistics-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Approbative](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approbative) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approbative?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.