Library / English Dictionary

MERIT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of being deserving (e.g., deserving assistance)

Example:

there were many children whose deservingness he recognized and rewarded

Synonyms:

deservingness; merit; meritoriousness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("merit" is a kind of...):

worthiness (the quality or state of having merit or value)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "merit"):

desert ((usually plural) a person's deservingness of or entitlement to reward or punishment)

Derivation:

merit (be worthy or deserving)

meritorious (deserving reward or praise)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any admirable quality or attribute

Example:

work of great merit

Synonyms:

merit; virtue

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("merit" is a kind of...):

worth (the quality that renders something desirable or valuable or useful)

Antonym:

demerit (the quality of being inadequate or falling short of perfection)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be worthy or deserving

Example:

You deserve a promotion after all the hard work you have done

Synonyms:

deserve; merit

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "merit" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "merit"):

have it coming (deserve (either good or bad))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

merit (the quality of being deserving (e.g., deserving assistance))

meritable (deserving reward or praise)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Saints are they, if in this age any may merit so high a name.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I, wealthy—gorged with gold I never earned and do not merit!

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“I’ve seen his old faults and I haven’t seen his old merits,” said Sir John Lade, our opponent of the Brighton Road.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The story was not a long one, and when it was finished, he ventured to ask a few questions as a reward of merit.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I do not profess to be a judge of such things, but they appeared to me to be singularly wanting in merit.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A title conferred on a person, usually in recognition of their merits, actions or contributions.

(Honorary Title, NCI Thesaurus)

With so much true merit and true love, and no want of fortune and friends, the happiness of the married cousins must appear as secure as earthly happiness can be.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

And because of this, and of his merit as a hunter, he was looked upon with respect, and even awe; and there was talk of making him chief after old Klosh-Kwan.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His primacy was savage, and savagely he ruled, administering justice with a club, punishing transgression with the pain of a blow, and rewarding merit, not by kindness, but by withholding a blow.

(White Fang, by Jack London)