demerit
a mark against a person for misconduct or deficiency: If you receive four demerits during a term, you will be expelled from school.
the quality of being censurable or punishable; fault; culpability.
Obsolete. merit or desert.
Origin of demerit
1Other words from demerit
- de·mer·i·to·ri·ous [dih-mer-i-tawr-ee-uhs, -tohr-], /dɪˌmɛr ɪˈtɔr i əs, -ˈtoʊr-/, adjective
- de·mer·i·to·ri·ous·ly, adverb
Words Nearby demerit
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use demerit in a sentence
This year, with truly hard snow topped with death cookies, the easy and light skiing feel of the 99 was a mild demerit.
Runners-Up Review: The All-Mountain Skis That Almost Made Our 2022 Winter Buyer’s Guide | agintzler | December 17, 2021 | Outside OnlineThe Lichess analysis, powered by the Stockfish chess engine, also awards a variety of demerits to imperfect play — “inaccuracies,” “mistakes” and “blunders.”
Brilliance And Blunders Have Defined The World Chess Championship | Oliver Roeder | December 8, 2021 | FiveThirtyEightHis houseparents that year talked through his feelings and didn’t give him demerits, he said.
“I Finally Got to the Mountaintop and I Failed” | by Bob Fernandez, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Charlotte Keith, Spotlight PA | June 10, 2021 | ProPublicaHe also remembers receiving demerit points for breaking a door and cursing at one of his houseparents.
“I Finally Got to the Mountaintop and I Failed” | by Bob Fernandez, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Charlotte Keith, Spotlight PA | June 10, 2021 | ProPublicaAn offense that one set of houseparents might shrug off could result in demerits in another student home.
“I Finally Got to the Mountaintop and I Failed” | by Bob Fernandez, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Charlotte Keith, Spotlight PA | June 10, 2021 | ProPublica
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.
Robert E. Lee | Ruth HillEliphaz represents the correct Jewish view that everything is reward or punishment for merit and demerit.
A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy | Isaac HusikBut, 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.
Frank Merriwell's Chums | Burt L. StandishHe had thus a strong feeling against him in Italy independent of any demerit of his own.
The Makers of Modern Rome | Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant
British Dictionary definitions for demerit
/ (diːˈmɛrɪt, ˈdiːˌmɛrɪt) /
something, esp conduct, that deserves censure
US and Canadian a mark given against a person for failure or misconduct, esp in schools or the armed forces
a fault or disadvantage
Origin of demerit
1Derived forms of demerit
- demeritorious, adjective
- demeritoriously, adverb
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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