meretricious
alluring by a show of flashy or vulgar attractions; tawdry.
based on pretense, deception, or insincerity.
Archaic. relating to or characteristic of a prostitute.
Origin of meretricious
1Other words for meretricious
Other words from meretricious
- mer·e·tri·cious·ly, adverb
- mer·e·tri·cious·ness, noun
- un·mer·e·tri·cious, adjective
- un·mer·e·tri·cious·ly, adverb
- un·mer·e·tri·cious·ness, noun
Words that may be confused with meretricious
- meritorious, meretricious
Words Nearby meretricious
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use meretricious in a sentence
Now that Laura has been revealed to be little more than a collection of notes, the debate seems silly, meretricious.
Then the mask is taken off, meretricious ornaments are dispensed with, and consequently native qualities appear.
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I | Francis Augustus CoxBut to-night her now hateful, meretricious image rose, with horrid vividness, before him.
What Timmy Did | Marie Adelaide Belloc LowndesAs in everything that Seguin has painted, there was undoubtedly a certain meretricious beauty and force about it.
Babylon, Volume 2 (of 3) | Grant AllenA pintura de la Feria became a term in Spain for a meretricious picture.
The Story of Seville | Walter M. Gallichan
The people are already beginning to distinguish between the wholesome and the meretricious in their newspapers.
Marse Henry (Vol. 2) | Henry Watterson
British Dictionary definitions for meretricious
/ (ˌmɛrɪˈtrɪʃəs) /
superficially or garishly attractive
insincere: meretricious praise
archaic of, like, or relating to a prostitute
Origin of meretricious
1Derived forms of meretricious
- meretriciously, adverb
- meretriciousness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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