Meanings
comparative more meritorious · superlative most meritorious
- Deserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward.
The policeman received the Award of Meritorious Service from his grateful department.
1 more example
Many factors were considered in recommending or granting an award of meritorious good time. Many, if not most, inmates at the Pontiac Correctional Center received meritorious good time in amounts ranging up to 90 days.
1984, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Smith V. McGinnis, page 10Synonyms: commendable, deserving, meedful, praiseworthy, meritious · Antonyms: immeritorious
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveDeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinmeritōrius“earning money”
- Middle Englishmeritorious
- Englishmeritorious
From Middle English meritorious, borrowed between 1375 and 1425 from Latin meritōrius (“earning money”), from meritus, past participle of mereō (“to earn”).
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic فَاضِل, جَدِير
- فَاضِل (fāḍil)deserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
- جَدِير (jadīr)deserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Bulgarian похвален, заслужен
- похвален (pohvalen)deserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
- заслужен (zaslužen)deserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Catalan meritori
- meritorideserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Dutch verdienstelijk
- verdienstelijkdeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Finnish ansiokas
- ansiokasdeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
French méritoire, louable
- méritoiredeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
- louabledeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
German verdienstvoll
- verdienstvolldeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Hungarian érdemes, érdemdús
- érdemesdeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
- érdemdúsdeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
- dicséretesdeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Italian meritorio
- meritoriodeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Latin meritōrius, commendābilis
- meritōriusdeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
- commendābilisdeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Polish chwalebny
- chwalebnydeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Portuguese meritório
- meritóriodeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Russian похва́льный, заслу́живающий награ́ды
- похва́льный (poxválʹnyj)deserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
- заслу́живающий награ́ды (zaslúživajuščij)deserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Spanish meritorio, loable
- meritoriodeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
- loabledeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
- encomiabledeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
- elogiabledeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
- ensalzabledeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
- beneméritodeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
- plausibledeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Swedish förtjänstfull
- förtjänstfulldeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Tagalog tampat
- tampatdeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Welsh haeddiannol, teilwng
- haeddiannoldeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
- teilwngdeserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with meritorious
Cite this entry
meritorious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meritorious
“meritorious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meritorious. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “meritorious,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meritorious.
Source: meritorious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.