Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

meritorious

/ˌmɛɹɪˈtɔɹi.əs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.98 in modern English

Syllables
mer-i-to-ri-ous
IPA
/ˌmɛɹɪˈtɔɹi.əs/
13
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
5
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Deserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English meritorious, borrowed between 1375 and 1425 from Latin meritōrius (“earning money”), from meritus, past participle of mereō (“to earn”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˌmɛɹɪˈtɔɹi.əs/
  • British English: /ˌmɛɹɪˈtɔːɹɪ.əs/

Inflected Forms

more meritorious (comparative) most meritorious (superlative)

Derived Forms

meritoriously meritoriousness nonmeritorious unmeritorious

Phrases

meritorious mast

Synonyms

commendable deserving meedful praiseworthy meritious meritable

Antonyms

immeritorious

Rhymes With

glorious notorious victorious laborious inglorious self-glorious uproarious censorious vainglorious uxorious maritorious memorious

Questions

How do you pronounce meritorious?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˌmɛɹɪˈtɔɹi.əs/.
What does meritorious mean?
Deserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward.
Where does meritorious come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce meritorious

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “meritorious”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌmɛɹɪˈtɔɹi.əs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “meritorious”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “meritorious” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.