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View synonyms for demerit

demerit

[ dih-mer-it ]

noun

  1. a mark against a person for misconduct or deficiency:

    If you receive four demerits during a term, you will be expelled from school.

  2. the quality of being censurable or punishable; fault; culpability.
  3. Obsolete. merit or desert.


demerit

/ diːˈmɛrɪt; ˈdiːˌmɛrɪt /

noun

  1. something, esp conduct, that deserves censure
  2. a mark given against a person for failure or misconduct, esp in schools or the armed forces
  3. a fault or disadvantage


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Derived Forms

  • deˌmeriˈtorious, adjective
  • deˌmeriˈtoriously, adverb

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Other Words From

  • de·mer·i·to·ri·ous [dih-mer-i-, tawr, -ee-, uh, s, -, tohr, -], adjective
  • de·meri·tori·ous·ly adverb

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Word History and Origins

Origin of demerit1

1350–1400; Middle English (< Old French desmerite ) < Medieval Latin dēmeritum fault, noun use of neuter past participle of Latin dēmerēre to earn, win the favor of ( dē- taken in ML as privative, hence pejorative). See de-, merit

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Word History and Origins

Origin of demerit1

C14 (originally: worth, later specialized to mean: something worthy of blame): from Latin dēmerērī to deserve

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Example Sentences

Another demerit of the American system of employer-based coverage.

At West Point he graduated second in his class, and better than that, he never received a demerit all the time he was there.

Eliphaz represents the correct Jewish view that everything is reward or punishment for merit and demerit.

But, galled and stung by a sense of my follies and demerit, I strove to throw the blame on others.

I am room orderly this week, and am going to have things kept straight, for I can't afford to take any more demerit.

He had thus a strong feeling against him in Italy independent of any demerit of his own.

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