de·mer·it

[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.

Origin:
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

de·mer·i·to·ri·ous [dih-mer-i-tawr-ee-uhs, -tohr-] , adjective
de·mer·i·to·ri·ous·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Demerit is a GRE word you need to know.
So is deliquesce. Does it mean:
to become liquid by absorbing moisture from the air, as certain salts.
to mar the natural form or shape of; put out of shape; disfigure:
Collins
World English Dictionary
demerit (diːˈmɛrɪt, ˈdiːˌmɛrɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  something, esp conduct, that deserves censure
2.  (US), (Canadian) a mark given against a person for failure or misconduct, esp in schools or the armed forces
3.  a fault or disadvantage
 
[C14 (originally: worth, later specialized to mean: something worthy of blame): from Latin dēmerērī to deserve]
 
demeri'torious
 
adj
 
demeri'toriously
 
adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

demerit
1399, from O.Fr. desmerite, from des- "not, opposite" + merite "merit." L. demereri meant "to merit, deserve," from de- in its completive sense. But M.L. demeritum meant "fault." Both senses existed in the M.Fr. form of the word. Meaning "penalty point in school" is attested from 1862.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
The idea of moral merit and demerit is almost wholly absent from all these compositions.
With a probationary license, demerit points double for moving traffic convictions after your first conviction.
The points will appear as the difference between the plus points and any existing demerit points.
Chen, who was a senior at the time, was given a demerit but not expelled.
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