deserve
Americanverb (used with object)
-
deserves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
deserved,
past participle, past
-
deserving
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
deserves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
deserved,
past participle, past
-
deserving
present participle
verb
-
(tr) to be entitled to or worthy of; merit
-
obsolete to be worthy
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deservesimple
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deservessimple
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have deservedperfect
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has deservedperfect
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am deservingprogressive
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are deservingprogressive
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is deservingprogressive
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have been deservingperfect progressive
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has been deservingperfect progressive
Past
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deservedsimple
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had deservedperfect
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was deservingprogressive
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were deservingprogressive
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had been deservingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deserve
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English deserven, from Anglo-French, Old French deservir, from Latin dēservīre “to devote oneself to the service of,” equivalent to dē- de- + servīre “to serve” ( see serve)
Explanation
We deserve things based on our actions. For example, many people believe murderers deserve the death penalty. Deserve is used in many ways, but it always carries a sense of balance or justice. If someone receives an award for their work, it means they deserve praise and attention. If you deserve a day off, it means you've been working hard and have earned a vacation. If you threw a book during class, you deserve a punishment of some kind. Many laws — and lots of arguments — are about deciding what different people deserve. It's often hard to tell.
Vocabulary lists containing deserve
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act I
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Schooled
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But Denise said that he didn’t deserve to die the way that he did, and that she hopes their lawsuit will “force some accountability” for law enforcement officers who harm inmates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
French said "taxpayers deserve transparency over how this money was awarded".
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
The soldiers who will serve under these officers deserve leaders who have spent their college years preparing for that responsibility.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
It has also revealed why the seemingly simple supplement findings deserve careful interpretation.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
Didn’t Clara deserve the kind of justice so many folks never got?
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
The results could help determine whether meal timing deserves a place alongside established approaches to managing metabolic and liver health.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026
No position on the U.S. team is as wide open as goalkeeper, and Kochen has shown he deserves to be in the conversation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
"It would give this individual, who deserves no further notoriety, the martyrdom he seeks," she wrote on X, external, adding that "how we carry out justice matters just as much as the justice itself."
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
What bothers me is that everyone is arguing about what she deserves and nobody is asking what mom needs.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
Under other circumstances it might have been annoying, but he deserves a moment here.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
She expresses profound love for the two children she has while regretting that she was forced to become a mother before she could give those children the life she believed they deserved.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
“I have never been surer of anything in my life,” adding a generous tip for Tyler, who deserved a combat medal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Still, the AI jitters arrived just as Airbnb was persuading investors it deserved its pricey multiple.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Wakefield Trinity became only the sixth, and most unlikely, club to win the Super League title after a deserved win over Warrington Wolves.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Again, Fannie’s fiery words reminded workers that they deserved better.
From "Fannie Never Flinched" by Mary Cronk Farrell
He was relentlessly self-documenting, building much of his public persona on social media, where he posed with piles of cash and announced the cars and money he gave to people whom he considered deserving.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Two categories stood out as particularly deserving of further investigation: reproductive symptoms, including changes in menstrual cycles, and problems involving body temperature, such as chills and hot flashes.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026
I got so much love and so much support for that show, but I didn’t feel deserving of it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
She tries to inject fun into biweekly team meetings by asking everyone to share recent professional highs and lows, and vote for the colleague most deserving of special recognition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
She believes young women are capable, deserving of independence, but she’s still my father’s younger sister, still responsible for me.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
