Hi. To be blunt, if someone highly educated uses the term 'oriental', no - it likely isn't intended pejoratively at all. If someone less educated does, then yes, it's likely an insult. 'Orient' and 'occident' are both classical terms - they simply refer to the rising (oriri) and setting (occidere) of the sun, and, by extension, to the classical East and West. 'Oriental' has definitely taken on both a more romanticised and pejorative sense, while 'occidental' has largely fallen out of use. Both are perfectly acceptable, but I wouldn't refer to a person as 'oriental' (no issues saying, for instance, 'the orient' or 'the occident'), given the connotations. It's a shame! I think it's one of the most poetic pairings that exists in English from Latin. Africa, for what it's worth, was where the sun finally died beneath the waters. Lovely imagery. Best.

Hopefully this short video will clear things up a bit! I would advise against using it to describe people. https://www.pbs.org/video/why-do-we-say-asian-american-not-oriental-4mohsx/

In the US, the word ‘oriental’ was often used as a negative term about people from Asia. Although many worse words were used. Now the word oriental is used for objects, like rugs or a vase, but for describing people the word Asian is common for a general term, and if you are aware of the actual country someone is from ( such as Thailand or China) then the more specific word makes more sense. For people from India, Nepal, Pakistan, etc. the term South Asian is more common now. None of these terms are perfect, but they are an attempt to be less racist, which is good. Although the most important factor is whether or not the speaker has hate in their heart.

Actually I find it strange when people just use the term Asian. Asia is a big place with many different people. In the UK Asian generally means South Asian - India etc, whereas in the US it tends to mean East Asia - China, Korea, Japan. Maybe Oriental is used for people here.

I'm a native English (American) speaker and this is confusing to me. I have read that we should stop using the term 'Oriental' to describe Asian people. But no one seems to be able to explain what is offensive about it. However I accept it and will try not to do use the word.. That said, if someone refers to an Asian person as Oriental, they are probably not trying to be offensive. They probably just don't know that we're not supposed to use it. This is all part of what is called being 'politically correct,' in the U.S.