meritorious

adjective

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mer·i·to·ri·ous | \ ˌmer-ə-ˈtȯr-ē-əs

Definition of meritorious

: deserving of honor or esteem honored for her meritorious service to the company

Other Words from meritorious Synonyms & Antonyms Did you know? More Example Sentences Learn More About meritorious

Did you know?

People who demonstrate meritorious behavior certainly "earn" our respect, and you can use that fact to remember that meritorious comes from the Latin verb merēre, which means "to earn." Nowadays, the rewards earned for meritorious acts are likely to be of an immaterial nature: gratitude, admiration, praise, etc. But that wasn't always so. The history of meritorious recalls a reward more concrete in nature: money. In Latin, meritorious literally means "bringing in money."

Examples of meritorious in a Sentence

She was given an award for meritorious service. worked all night with meritorious determination to get the project done on time

Recent Examples on the Web Because of the current funding lag, the NCI can only fund about one in eight meritorious research applications, according to data from the nonprofit ACT for NIH. — Scientific American, 28 Dec. 2021 He was later awarded the Bronze Star and a Silver Star for meritorious service. — New York Times, 9 Nov. 2021 Career Excellence Award for meritorious contributions to baseball writing. — Paul Hoynes, cleveland, 7 Dec. 2021 But setbacks to a meritorious individual's fortune-building efforts and attacks by sniveling critics and cancelers? — Virginia Heffernan, Wired, 26 Nov. 2021 The latter medal was awarded to civilians or military officers who had displayed heroism in combat or meritorious service to the Moroccan state. — Steve Bowersox, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 31 Oct. 2021 The investigation also cites several people for meritorious performance during the fire, including Bonhomme Richard sailors, federal fire crews, helicopter crews and a San Diego firefighter. — Andrew Dyer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Oct. 2021 Any justice can ask that a pending case be put on the list for discussion, usually after law clerks have culled those that may be meritorious. — Joan Biskupic, CNN, 17 Oct. 2021 One from this month in Kuwait shows her beaming with her meritorious promotion to sergeant. — Danielle Wallace, Fox News, 31 Aug. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'meritorious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.