immeritorious

I1M3M3E1R1I1T1O1R1I1O1U1S1
UK/ɪmɛɹɪˈtɔːɹɪəs/

adjective

Unworthy of merit; not deserving of merit; not meritorious.

Scrabble 17

Meanings

adjectiveimmeritorious (comparative more immeritorious, superlative most immeritorious)

comparative more immeritorious · superlative most immeritorious

  1. Unworthy of merit; not deserving of merit; not meritorious.

    As long as the defence is credible and can be reasonably substantiated so that the counterclaim is not evidently immeritorious, the attacked party has little to lose, and may gain time.

    2004: Damien Géradin, Modernisation and Enlargement: Two Major Challenges for EC Competition Law, page 137 (Intersentia; →ISBN, 9050954324)
    1 more example

    Their acceptance indeed, as a formula, may show a willing and tractable spirit, and they may to that extent have a value : but such acceptance differs of course from belief in being admittedly a voluntary act, and not a mere immeritorious and reluctant yielding to the brute weight of evidence.

    1883, Mind, volume 8, B. Blackwell, page 24

Origin

im- (“un-”, “not”) + meritorious (“worthy or deserving of merit”); compare the Latin immeritōrius

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

immeritorious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/immeritorious

MLA

“immeritorious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/immeritorious. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “immeritorious,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/immeritorious.

Source: immeritorious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.