deserving

[ dih-zur-ving ]

adjective

1. qualified for or having a claim to reward, assistance, etc., because of one's actions, qualities, or situation:

   the deserving poor;

   a deserving applicant.

2. meriting; worthy:

   a criminal deserving of a lifetime sentence.

deserving

/ dɪˈzɜːvɪŋ /

adjective

1. oftenpostpositive and foll by of worthy, esp of praise or reward

noun

1. rare.
   a merit or demerit; desert

Derived Forms

• deˈservingly, adverb
• deˈservingness, noun

Other Words From

• de·serving·ly adverb
• de·serving·ness noun
• self-de·serving adjective
• unde·serving adjective
• unde·serving·ly adverb
• unde·serving·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of deserving¹

First recorded in 1570–80; deserve + -ing ²

Example Sentences

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.

From 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.

From 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.

From Time

They blame themselves for their weight and judge themselves as inferior and deserving of societal stigma.

From No Straight News

The mindset shift needs to change to feeling deserving and worthy of the pay you desire.

From Essence.com

The bailout crybabies of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and all the rest are easy targets—and deserving ones, too.

From The Daily Beast

Golden Age-of-TV evangelists prate on about which glorified soap operas are most deserving of our rapt attention.

From The Daily Beast

A creature deserving of pity and a medical diagnosis that will grant them a special status in society.

From The 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.

From The Daily Beast

There have been too many deserving candidates for it to be any other way.

From The Daily Beast

All this will, doubtless, throw a number of deserving persons out of employ.

From Project Gutenberg

But it is at least deserving of notice, that the very few apparent exceptions to this rule evidently tend to confirm it.

From Project Gutenberg

Colchester is an interesting town, deserving of much longer time than we were able to stay.

From Project Gutenberg

Lewis Hayden, of Boston, is well deserving a place among the examples of character here given.

From Project Gutenberg

She did so many things deserving punishment that the teacher was often perplexed to know what course to take with her.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• commendable