deserving

[ dih-zur-ving ]

/ dɪˈzɜr vɪŋ /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for deserving on Thesaurus.com

adjective

qualified for or having a claim to reward, assistance, etc., because of one's actions, qualities, or situation: the deserving poor; a deserving applicant.

meriting; worthy: a criminal deserving of a lifetime sentence.

QUIZ

CUDDLE UP! A COZY QUIZ ON FALL WORDS HAS ARRIVED

If autumn is your ideal season, spice up your repertoire of "fall" vocabulary with this quiz on some warm and vivid descriptive words for the season.

Question 1 of 10

Which of the following words means “to make a crackling sound; crackle”?

crisp

crepitate

fuscous

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of deserving

First recorded in 1570–80; deserve + -ing²

OTHER WORDS FROM deserving

de·serv·ing·ly, adverbde·serv·ing·ness, nounself-de·serv·ing, adjectiveun·de·serv·ing, adjective

un·de·serv·ing·ly, adverbun·de·serv·ing·ness, noun

Words nearby deserving

desert soil, desert varnish, deserve, deserved, deservedly, deserving, desex, desexualize, deshabille, desi, De Sica

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use deserving in a sentence

So he tried to find nature, he ends up in a Brooklyn slum, and is plucked from that and goes to one of those schools they have in New York where the deserving poor are given special education.
Two (Totally Opposite) Ways to Save the Planet (Ep. 346 Rebroadcast)|Stephen J. Dubner|July 29, 2021|Freakonomics
Narrowing down 1000 entries to six mentoring partnerships meant we, unfortunately, weren’t able to match every qualified mentor entry with every deserving mentee application.
The Search Engine Land mentorships have been announced; Monday’s daily brief|Carolyn Lyden|July 12, 2021|Search Engine Land
Her approach doesn’t make her any less deserving of a winner compared to other contestants who take influences from other cuisines.
Top Chef: Portland Was the Kindest Season Yet. Does the Finale Change That?|Elijah Wolfson|July 2, 2021|Time
They blame themselves for their weight and judge themselves as inferior and deserving of societal stigma.
Weight Stigma Is A Burden Around The World – And Has Negative Consequences Everywhere|LGBTQ-Editor|June 7, 2021|No Straight News

The mindset shift needs to change to feeling deserving and worthy of the pay you desire.
5 Steps to Overcoming Negative Money Experiences to Get the Pay You Deserve|Kimberly Wilson|June 4, 2021|Essence.com
The bailout crybabies of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and all the rest are easy targets—and deserving ones, too.
How Naive is Elizabeth Warren?|Nick Gillespie|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Golden Age-of-TV evangelists prate on about which glorified soap operas are most deserving of our rapt attention.
America’s Meddlers Are Our Worst Enemies|Stefan Beck|October 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A creature deserving of pity and a medical diagnosis that will grant them a special status in society.
Surviving War Doesn’t Turn All Veterans into Victims, Sometimes it Helps Them Grow|David Morris|May 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Medal of Honor has been awarded only 13 times in more than a decade of conflict while deserving recipients are passed over.
The Medal of Honor Disgrace|Brian Van Reet|March 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There have been too many deserving candidates for it to be any other way.
The Medal of Honor Disgrace|Brian Van Reet|March 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
All this will, doubtless, throw a number of deserving persons out of employ.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
But it is at least deserving of notice, that the very few apparent exceptions to this rule evidently tend to confirm it.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2]|Phillip Parker King
Colchester is an interesting town, deserving of much longer time than we were able to stay.
British Highways And Byways From A Motor Car|Thomas D. Murphy
Lewis Hayden, of Boston, is well deserving a place among the examples of character here given.
The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States|Martin R. Delany
She did so many things deserving punishment that the teacher was often perplexed to know what course to take with her.
The value of a praying mother|Isabel C. Byrum

British Dictionary definitions for deserving

deserving

/ (dɪˈzɜːvɪŋ) /

adjective

(often postpositive and foll by of) worthy, esp of praise or reward

noun

rare a merit or demerit; desert

Derived forms of deserving

deservingly, adverbdeservingness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

deserving

Origin of deserving

OTHER WORDS FROM deserving

Words nearby deserving

Words related to deserving

How to use deserving in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for deserving

Derived forms of deserving