Link Centre Dictionary

demerit

de·me·rit

UK/dɪˈmɛɹɪt/ US/diˈmɛrʌt/ uncommon archaic

noun

1.

a mark against a person for misconduct or failure; usually given in school or armed forces

  • “ten demerits and he loses his privileges”
2.

the quality of being inadequate or falling short of perfection

  • “they discussed the merits and demerits of her novel”
  • “he knew his own faults much better than she did”
Synonyms
Antonyms

Origin

From Middle English demerit, demerite, from Old French desmerite (modern French démérite) and its etymon Latin dēmeritum. By surface analysis, de- + merit.

Phrases

  • demerit good
  • demerit point

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.