If you keep to the original meaning of Liberal it is hardly a pejorative. But I doubt one in 20 current libs would know the origin of the term and the political and social meaning of the term.
Yup, as described in Orwell’s 1984, the Left bamboozles the unwary by misusing words applied to that which have the opposite meaning. I gave up long ago calling them “liberals”.
They are the Left - full description: The Delusional Lying Left.