Standard Lemma guide

meritless

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈmɛɹɪtlɪs/
  • CMU ARPABET: M EH1 R IH0 T L AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Without merit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

without merit

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a sorry horse
  • a sorry excuse
  • a lazy no-count, good-for-nothing goldbrick
  • the car was a no-good piece of junk

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: good-for-nothing, good-for-naught, no-account, no-count, no-good, sorry

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English merit Proto-Indo-European *lewh1- Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der. Proto-Germanic *leusaną Proto-Germanic *lausaz Proto-Germanic *-lausaz Proto-West Germanic *-laus Old English -lēas Middle English -les English -less English meritless From merit + -less.

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: ansioton — without merit