demerit

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /diˈmɛrɪt/ UK /diːˈmerɪt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a fault or a mark against one's record

He earned a demerit for arriving late to drill.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a fault or a mark against... fault defect flaw shortcoming failing blemish drawback

Opposites

merit credit virtue commendation

Word family

Derived forms demeritorious

Related forms merit meritorious

Etymology

From Old French desmerite, from Latin demeritum ('that which one deserves, fault'), from demerere ('to deserve, merit'), from de- (here intensive) plus merere ('to earn, deserve').

demeritum Latin merere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# demerit

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /diˈmɛrɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /diːˈmerɪt/

## Meanings
1. a fault or a mark against one's record

## Examples
- He earned a demerit for arriving late to drill.

## Synonyms
- fault
- defect
- flaw
- shortcoming
- failing
- blemish
- drawback

## Antonyms
- merit
- credit
- virtue
- commendation

## Derived Forms
- demeritorious

## Related Forms
- merit
- meritorious

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: demeritum
- Root: merere

## Etymology
From Old French desmerite, from Latin demeritum ('that which one deserves, fault'), from demerere ('to deserve, merit'), from de- (here intensive) plus merere ('to earn, deserve').

## AI Etymology
Demerit is from Old French desmerite, from Latin demeritum ('that which one deserves, fault'), from demerere ('to deserve, merit'), from de- (here intensive) plus merere ('to earn, deserve'). The ancestry passes through Latin demeritum and Latin merere. The prefix de- often marks removal, reversal, or downward motion in Latin formations, helping to explain the word's surface structure. In present use as a noun, it means "a fault or a mark against one's record", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include merit and meritorious; derived forms include demeritorious.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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