merit-based

adjective

Derived from one's academic or extracurricular achievements rather than one's financial need.

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Meanings

adjective
  1. educationDerived from one's academic or extracurricular achievements rather than one's financial need.
    1 more example

    Last week, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected as “condescending” President Trump’s proposal for a more merit-based immigration policy, she provided a metaphor not just for the shattered condition of Washington’s governance of immigration, but also for the Democratic Party’s ideologically rigid disavowal of all principles of immigration constraint.

    2019 May 20, Jerry Kammer, “Pelosi's Anti-Merit Metaphor for Governance”, in Center for Immigration Studies
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: merit-based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.