The meaning of MERITORIOUS is deserving of honor or esteem. How to use meritorious in a sentence. Did you know?

The attempt to achieve a valuable result may be highly meritorious but a complete failure, and full success may be entirely the result of accident and thus without merit.

If you describe something as meritorious, you approve of it for its good or worthwhile qualities.

meritorious (ˌmɛrɪˈtɔːrɪəs) adj praiseworthy; showing merit [C15: from Latin meritōrius earning money]

Definition of meritorious adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

Anything that's deserving of praise or a reward could be described as meritorious. Meritorious things deserve a lot of merit, usually because they were very brave or noble in some way.

Sep 12, 2025 · meritorious (comparative more meritorious, superlative most meritorious) Deserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward.

There are eight meanings listed in OED's entry for the word meritorious, three of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

MERITORIOUS definition: deserving praise, reward, esteem, etc.; praiseworthy. See examples of meritorious used in a sentence.

meritorious (adjective) meritorious /ˌmerə ˈ torijəs/ adjective Britannica Dictionary definition of MERITORIOUS [more meritorious; most meritorious] formal : deserving honor or praise