meretricious

[ mer-i-trish-uhs ]

/ ˌmɛr ɪˈtrɪʃ əs /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR meretricious ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

alluring by a show of flashy or vulgar attractions; tawdry.

based on pretense, deception, or insincerity.

pertaining to or characteristic of a prostitute.

Words nearby meretricious

meredith, merely, merengue, mereology, merese, meretricious, merganser, merge, mergee, mergenthaler, merger

Origin of meretricious

1620–30; < Latin meretrīcius of, pertaining to prostitutes, derivative of meretrīx prostitute, equivalent to mere-, stem of merēre to earn + -trīx -trix; see -ous

SYNONYMS FOR meretricious

1 showy, gaudy.

2 spurious, sham, false.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR meretricious ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM meretricious

mer·e·tri·cious·ly, adverbmer·e·tri·cious·ness, nounun·mer·e·tri·cious, adjectiveun·mer·e·tri·cious·ly, adverb

un·mer·e·tri·cious·ness, noun

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH meretricious

meritorious meretricious

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for meretricious

Now that Laura has been revealed to be little more than a collection of notes, the debate seems silly, meretricious.
The Nabokov Mess|Nathaniel Rich|November 22, 2009|DAILY BEAST
The girl is a weaker vessel, pliant, submissive to the virago's sexual energy, selected from the class of meretricious ingnues.
A Problem in Greek Ethics|John Addington Symonds
Depend upon it, from all that is licentious and meretricious something monstrous will come forth.
Tales of Old Japan|Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford
If any persons under legal incapacities come together, it is a meretricious, and not a matrimonial union.'
Armadale|Wilkie Collins

A man in the prime of life—a perfect embodiment of symmetry and strength—he wore no attempt at gew-gaws or meretricious adornment.
The Sign of the Spider|Bertram Mitford
His own gray image of Pallas Athene seemed now to be decked with meretricious roses.
Sinister Street, vol. 2|Compton Mackenzie

British Dictionary definitions for meretricious

meretricious

/ (ˌmɛrɪˈtrɪʃəs) /

adjective

superficially or garishly attractive

insinceremeretricious praise

archaic of, like, or relating to a prostitute

Derived forms of meretricious

meretriciously, adverbmeretriciousness, noun

Word Origin for meretricious

C17: from Latin merētrīcius, from merētrix prostitute, from merēre to earn money

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