merit
Americannoun
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merits
plural
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claim to respect and praise; excellence; worth.
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something that deserves or justifies a reward or commendation; a commendable quality, act, etc..
The book's only merit is its sincerity.
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merits, the inherent rights and wrongs of a matter, as a lawsuit, unobscured by procedural details, technicalities, personal feelings, etc..
The case will be decided on its merits alone.
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Often merits. the state or fact of deserving; desert.
to treat people according to their merits.
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Roman Catholic Church. worthiness of spiritual reward, acquired by righteous acts made under the influence of grace.
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Obsolete. something that is deserved, whether good or bad.
verb (used with object)
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merits,
present (3rd person singular)
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merited,
past participle, past
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meriting
present participle
verb (used without object)
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merits,
present (3rd person singular)
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merited,
past participle, past
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meriting
present participle
adjective
noun
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worth or superior quality; excellence
work of great merit
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(often plural) a deserving or commendable quality or act
judge him on his merits
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Christianity spiritual credit granted or received for good works
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the fact or state of deserving; desert
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an obsolete word for reward
verb
Synonym Usage
See desert 3.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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self-meritnoun
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overmeritverb
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premeritverb (used with object)
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half-meritedadjective
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meritedadjective
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meritlessadjective
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unmeritedadjective
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well-meritedadjective
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meritedlyadverb
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unmeritedlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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meritsimple
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meritssimple
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have meritedperfect
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has meritedperfect
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am meritingprogressive
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are meritingprogressive
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is meritingprogressive
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have been meritingperfect progressive
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has been meritingperfect progressive
Past
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meritedsimple
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had meritedperfect
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was meritingprogressive
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were meritingprogressive
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had been meritingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of merit
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Latin meritum “act worthy of praise (or blame),” noun use of neuter of meritus, past participle of merēre “to earn”
Explanation
Merit means "worthiness or excellence." If you receive a certificate of merit in school, you are being recognized for doing a good job. As a verb, merit means "deserve." Your certificate might merit a prominent place on your bulletin board! You will often hear the phrases "merit-based promotion" and "merit-based pay," which come up when employees are pushing against a system in which time on the job — and not job performance — determines when workers are promoted and how much they are paid. Using the word merit suggests impartiality and objectivity — such as when you swear off a prejudiced approach to something and vow to "judge it on its merits."
Vocabulary lists containing merit
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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:
From a business standpoint, analysts see merit to a potential combination, which Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday is currently under discussion.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
But if ever a day showed Australia there is merit in moving from one generation to another it was this.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
Does that mean the administration’s suit has merit?
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
But it is close enough to merit consideration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
Had my friends seen the blackened banana lying on my bed, they might have understood my father's story and enjoyed it on its own merit.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
The spinoff would let investors value T-Head on its own merits, separately from the rest of the company, Alibaba said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026
If a language with such a small number of speakers merits a dub, their hope is that Disney would consider the 10 million people who speak Quechua.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2026
Verdict: BBC Sport covered the merits of this incident on Saturday.
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026
Sorkin responded to criticisms with pleasant diplomacy, even questioning his own merits as a director versus a screenwriter.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026
For a moment Horace stood with his hands linked across his belly and debated silently the merits of opening the deceased man’s chest so as to get at the evidence in the heart and lungs.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
Myanmar, the case in which the ICJ is poised to lower the threshold for proving genocide, merited only a passing mention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
The referee used the video assistant referee to review the play and determined it merited a red card.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
In the early days, spreads are often wider than merited, and volatility levels are unusually elevated.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
Dujon Sterling's deflected volley had Rangers in front and their overall performance merited such a lead.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
Even at war, soldiers of the crown hardly merited that term, which belonged to ancient battles and bloodcurdling cries.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Mental-health professionals are recognizing chatbot delusions and psychosis as a phenomenon meriting further study.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
In the brand-conscious ‘80s, the right item of designer clothing could make or break a kid’s popularity, meriting a Gartrell name drop in “A Shirt Story,” a Hall of Fame-level episode of “The Cosby Show.”
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2025
“They are accurate enough at this point to start meriting some consideration,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2023
"The Court should not mistake the FTC’s litigation gamesmanship for an emergency meriting this Court’s deviation from the ordinary appellate process," the company wrote.
From Reuters ● Jul. 14, 2023
In Table No. 2 there is shown the rating obtained by those panels which were considered by the committee as meriting from 8 to 10, and having given the best all-round service.
From Paint Technology and Tests by Henry A. Gardner
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
