Of course there is a valid perspective that intellectualizes those words so they seem harmless adjectives.
On the other side of the coin, they are lowly words for anyone to use, once they think about it.
Frei is used, in reality, with only negative connotations. It assumes the person is holding “zero” in yiddishkeit, and gives a feeling of exclusion, which is not right. It also throws into the garbage all the other concepts we should hold to such as dan l’chaf zcheus, tinok shenisba, only Hashem can take someone’s cheszbin, etc…etc. And, almost 100% of the time, when someone inquires if someone is frum or frei, upon hearing they are frei, all interest goes out the window.
Shiksa is also used as a lowly, degrading term.
Arent we suppose to try to avoid speaking about people, even out-and-out bad people, in a lowly, arrogant manner?
Was not Pharoah afforded some degree of humanity? Did not Hashem prefer to speak about “non-pure” animals as a way to teach us to try to elevate how we refer to things rather than denegrate?