adjective
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superficially or garishly attractive
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insincere
meretricious praise
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archaic of, like, or relating to a prostitute
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of meretricious
First recorded in 1620–30; from Latin meretrīcius “of, pertaining to prostitutes,” derivative of meretrīx “prostitute,” equivalent to mere-, stem of merēre “to earn” + -trīx -trix; see -ous
Explanation
Have you ever heard the phrase "fake it until you make it"? That is advice that encourages you to be meretricious, pretending to be something you aren't, like the meretricious flaunting of gigantic fake diamond earrings, pretending they are real — and that you can afford them. To correctly pronounce meretricious, accent the third syllable: "mer-uh-TRISH-us." Don't mistake something that is meretricious for having merit. In fact, it is just the opposite. From an expensive restaurant that looks expensively furnished but when the lights are turned up, you can see that "leather" chairs are just cheap vinyl or a woman who pretends her counterfeit handbags are designer originals, meretricious actions are meant to deceive.
Vocabulary lists containing meretricious
The Great Gatsby
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Fake It 'Til You Make It: Synonyms for "False"
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"The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Shakespeare in Love” kidnapped its subject to force him into a flimsy and meretricious romcom; “Hamnet” reduces the concept of tragedy to actors being extremely sad.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025
Or maybe, seen with a cold eye, meretricious.
From New York Times • Mar. 14, 2024
The economic crash of 1929 descended on America like an ice age, ending a meretricious prosperity.
From Salon • Nov. 4, 2023
Even in his last decades, when he might have basked in the eminence of his international reputation, he was still experimenting, still trying to separate the essential from the meretricious.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2022
Yet how often does the search after false originality lead only to meretricious cleverness or vulgarity, which creeps in unseen during the too close struggle with the craft.131 But our muttons need tending.
From Pottery, for Artists Craftsmen & Teachers by Cox, George J.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
