Merit

Quick meaning: Merit is a noun meaning (countable) A claim to commendation or a reward.

Meaning

(countable) A claim to commendation or a reward.

More Meanings

1. (countable) A mark or token of approbation or to recognize excellence.
2. (countable, uncountable) Something deserving or worthy of positive recognition or reward.
3. (countable, obsolete) The quality or state of deserving retribution, whether reward or punishment.
4. (transitive) To deserve, to earn.
5. (intransitive) To be deserving or worthy.
6. (uncountable, Buddhism, Jainism) The sum of all the good deeds that a person does which determines the quality of the person's next state of existence and contributes to the person's growth towards enlightenment.
7. (uncountable, law) Usually in the plural form the merits: the substantive rightness or wrongness of a legal argument, a lawsuit, etc., as opposed to technical matters such as the admissibility of evidence or points of legal procedure; (by extension) the overall good or bad quality, or rightness or wrongness, of some other thing.

Example Sentences

to acquire or make merit

His reward for his merit was a check for $50.

For her good performance in the examination, her teacher gave her ten merits.

[R]eputation is an idle and moſt falſe impoſition , oft got without merit and loſt without deſeruing.

Word Forms

• merits
• meriting
• merited
• meritest
• meritedst
• meriteth

Synonyms for merit

Depending on context, synonyms include excellence, value, worth, bear, rate, deserve.

Antonyms for merit

Common opposites include demerit, fault.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include meritoriousness, deservingness, deserve, virtue, rate, meritorious.

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