as in weaknesses
a defect in character
my keyboarding has the advantage of speed but the demerit of inaccuracy
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Recent Examples of demerits
Restaurants with over 30 demerits are required to fix the worst issues immediately and remedy the rest within 48 hours.
—
Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Jan. 2026
As a do-it-all shoe, however, the SL Evo has two major demerits.
—Scott Douglas, Outside, 12 Nov. 2025
Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Jan. 2026
As a do-it-all shoe, however, the SL Evo has two major demerits.
—Scott Douglas, Outside, 12 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demerits
Noun
-
Together, the cases highlight weaknesses in an industry that has long struggled to balance nutritional innovation with safety.—
Jillian Deutsch,
Bloomberg,
28 Jan. 2026
-
The task force included representatives from local police and fire departments and focused on identifying weaknesses in fireworks licensing, regulation and enforcement.—
Daniel Lempres,
Sacbee.com,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Wind turbines are particularly vulnerable to fire caused by lightning strikes or electrical faults.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
13 Jan. 2026
-
For Southern California, that means clearer insight into how faults behave between earthquakes.—
Marina Jurica,
CBS News,
11 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Which draws the attention of another ghost, a French man with a stack of papers documenting the man’s sins.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
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Whatever your preconceived notions about Feldman are, Hume’s film will expand and challenge them; the movie’s greatness lies in its ability to capture all of Feldman’s contradictions and self-destructiveness, empathizing with him without soft-pedaling his sins.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
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In an essay from 1927, the American composer Henry Cowell identified certain shortcomings of Western musical notation.—
Olivia Giovetti,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
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Painfully aware of his shortcomings, Wallace would have been horrified by his own subsequent beatification.—
Hermione Hoby,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Demerits.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demerits. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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