meretricious
adjective
mer·e·tri·cious
ˌmer-ə-ˈtri-shəs
1
: of or relating to a prostitute : having the nature of prostitution
meretricious relationships
2
a
: tawdrily and falsely attractive
the paradise they found was a piece of meretricious trash—
Carolyn See
b
: superficially (see superficial sense 2) significant : pretentious
scholarly names to provide fig-leaves of respectability for meretricious but stylish books—
The Times Literary Supplement (London)
meretriciously
adverb
meretriciousness
noun
Podcast
Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share