demerit

[ dih-mer-it ]

noun

1. a mark against a person for misconduct or deficiency:

   If you receive four demerits during a term, you will be expelled from school.

2. the quality of being censurable or punishable; fault; culpability.
3. Obsolete. merit or desert.

demerit

/ diːˈmɛrɪt; ˈdiːˌmɛrɪt /

noun

1. something, esp conduct, that deserves censure
2. a mark given against a person for failure or misconduct, esp in schools or the armed forces
3. a fault or disadvantage

Derived Forms

• deˌmeriˈtorious, adjective
• deˌmeriˈtoriously, adverb

Other Words From

• de·mer·i·to·ri·ous [dih-mer-i-, tawr, -ee-, uh, s, -, tohr, -], adjective
• de·meri·tori·ous·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of demerit¹

1350–1400; Middle English (< Old French desmerite ) < Medieval Latin dēmeritum fault, noun use of neuter past participle of Latin dēmerēre to earn, win the favor of ( dē- taken in ML as privative, hence pejorative). See de-, merit

Word History and Origins

Origin of demerit¹

C14 (originally: worth, later specialized to mean: something worthy of blame): from Latin dēmerērī to deserve

Example Sentences

This year, with truly hard snow topped with death cookies, the easy and light skiing feel of the 99 was a mild demerit.

From Outside Online

The Lichess analysis, powered by the Stockfish chess engine, also awards a variety of demerits to imperfect play — “inaccuracies,” “mistakes” and “blunders.”

From FiveThirtyEight

His houseparents that year talked through his feelings and didn’t give him demerits, he said.

From ProPublica

He also remembers receiving demerit points for breaking a door and cursing at one of his houseparents.

From ProPublica

An offense that one set of houseparents might shrug off could result in demerits in another student home.

From ProPublica

Another demerit of the American system of employer-based coverage.

From The Daily Beast

At West Point he graduated second in his class, and better than that, he never received a demerit all the time he was there.

From Project Gutenberg

Eliphaz represents the correct Jewish view that everything is reward or punishment for merit and demerit.

From Project Gutenberg

But, galled and stung by a sense of my follies and demerit, I strove to throw the blame on others.

From Project Gutenberg

I am room orderly this week, and am going to have things kept straight, for I can't afford to take any more demerit.

From Project Gutenberg

He had thus a strong feeling against him in Italy independent of any demerit of his own.

From Project Gutenberg