unmeritable

U1N1M3E1R1I1T1A1B3L1E1
/ˌʌnˈmɛɹɪtəbl̩/

adjective

Not meritable; undeserving of reward.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

adjectiveunmeritable (comparative more unmeritable, superlative most unmeritable)

comparative more unmeritable · superlative most unmeritable

  1. Not meritable; undeserving of reward.

    This is a ſlight vnmeritable man, / Meet to be ſent on Errands : is it fit / The three-fold VVorld diuided, he ſhould ſtand / One of the three to ſhare it?

    1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 123, column 2
    2 more examples

    The effect of this conſideration ought to be, […] that you give God moſt hearty and ſuperexalted thanks, vvith all the tranſports and raviſhments of ſpirit, for ſo unſpeakable, ſo unmeritable, ſo unrevvardable a loving kindneſs.

    1660, Jeremy Taylor, “Of Our Comportment in and after Our Receiving the Blessed Sacrament. Sect[ion] I. Of the Circumstances and Manner of Reception of the Divine Mysteries.”, in The Worthy Communicant or A Discourse of the Nature, Effects, and Blessings Consequent to the Worthy Receiving of the Lords Supper […], London: […] R. Norton for John Martyn, James Allestry, and Thomas Dicas […], published 1661, →OCLC, pages 539–540

    [A]nd Wordsworth, it may be confessed, was liable to failure […] with a result sometimes merely trivial and unmeritable, sometimes actually repulsive or oppressive.

    1884 May 28, “Wordsworth and Byron”, in James Knowles, editor, The Nineteenth Century, volume XV, page 780

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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