on merit
idiom
: on a person's having the required skills or qualifications
Hiring decisions are based entirely on merit.
Examples of on merit in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Whoever wins the job should do so on merit, not because of their race or gender.
—
Mark Z. Barabak, The Mercury News, 12 June 2024
The boards of these institutions had said previously that it should all be done on merit.
—Foreign Affairs, 12 Feb. 2014
Everything is driven by ulterior political motives to court popularity and to win reelection — even setting aside a seat on the United States Supreme Court for a Black woman, insinuating the appointment was not based on merit.
—Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 17 Mar. 2024
Profound economic, social and cultural changes — deindustrialization, the loss of secure jobs, the breakdown of unions and party structures — have so remade politics that even policies that should appeal to such voters cannot persuade them on merit alone.
—Elisabeth Zerofsky, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024
The 1883 Pendleton Act was passed to promote a federal workforce based on merit, not partisan bias.
—Joe Davidson, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024
But plans to change admission rules have faced legal and political challenges from conservatives and others who argue that such re-engineering amounts to an attack on merit and excellence.
—Karina Elwood, Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2024
This sharp focus on merit measured through balance sheet and income statement gains cements leadership development’s strategic status beyond a nice-to-have talent perk.
—Serenity Gibbons, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024
Rufo’s speech came at a perfect time to highlight the reality that the meritocracy has never been fully based on merit, and even conservatives in modern-day America hand out jobs based on qualifications and criteria that have little to do with ability.
—The Denver Post Editorial Board, The Denver Post, 19 Jan. 2024
Mark Z. Barabak, The Mercury News, 12 June 2024
The boards of these institutions had said previously that it should all be done on merit.
—Foreign Affairs, 12 Feb. 2014
Everything is driven by ulterior political motives to court popularity and to win reelection — even setting aside a seat on the United States Supreme Court for a Black woman, insinuating the appointment was not based on merit.
—Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 17 Mar. 2024
Profound economic, social and cultural changes — deindustrialization, the loss of secure jobs, the breakdown of unions and party structures — have so remade politics that even policies that should appeal to such voters cannot persuade them on merit alone.
—Elisabeth Zerofsky, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024
The 1883 Pendleton Act was passed to promote a federal workforce based on merit, not partisan bias.
—Joe Davidson, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024
But plans to change admission rules have faced legal and political challenges from conservatives and others who argue that such re-engineering amounts to an attack on merit and excellence.
—Karina Elwood, Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2024
This sharp focus on merit measured through balance sheet and income statement gains cements leadership development’s strategic status beyond a nice-to-have talent perk.
—Serenity Gibbons, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024
Rufo’s speech came at a perfect time to highlight the reality that the meritocracy has never been fully based on merit, and even conservatives in modern-day America hand out jobs based on qualifications and criteria that have little to do with ability.
—The Denver Post Editorial Board, The Denver Post, 19 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'on merit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near on merit
Cite this Entry
“On merit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/on%20merit. Accessed 18 Jun. 2024.
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