demerit

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“
But what had disturbed Jill even more than the demerit was the failure of the colleague present at her belittlement to speak a single word in her defense.

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Definitions (15)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A quality or characteristic deserving of blame or censure; a fault.
  2. noun Absence of merit.
  3. noun A mark made against one's record for a fault or for misconduct.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (7)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

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Examples (50)

  • But what had disturbed Jill even more than the demerit was the failure of the colleague present at her belittlement to speak a single word in her defense. —  Bladewire - Washington Blade
  • "The Time Out Film Guide dismisses Home as 'a modest film (in every sense), 'but I take exception on two grounds: that the film's modesty is just as much a credit as a demerit, and that the structural detours, lopsided gags, and vastly disparate tones in this film are often quite immodest.", about a colonel on an unauthorized mission to Afghanistan, seems to be a pretty interesting indie for two reasons. —  GreenCine Daily
  • Another demerit: this idea is scary, some people would say, because the plaintiffs 'lawyers will rush in and start suing every online service provider. —  HLS News
  • While I readily grant that in the grand scheme of things a loss last night wouldn't have been much a demerit, it unquestionably would have quashed my cautious optimism that the —  Burnt Orange Nation
  • Is it really fair to see it as a demerit that the movie actually challenges you to fill in the blanks?
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This word has been looked up 78 times.

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Etymologies (5)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English demerite, offense, from Old French desmerite, from Latin dēmeritum, from neuter past participle of dēmerēre, to deserve : dē-, de- + merēre, to earn; see (s)mer-2 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. from Latin demeritus, past participle of demerere, also deponent, demereri, merit or deserve (a thing), especially deserve well of (a person), from de, of, + merere, mereri, deserve, merit: see merit. Cf. demerit.
  2. Cf. Old French demerite, demirite, desert, merit (in neuter sense); from the verb: see demerit, v.
  3. from French démériter = Italian demeritare, deserve ill, do amiss; from the noun or as freq. of the earlier verb, Old French demerir, from Middle Latin demerere, deserve ill, do amiss, from Latin de- privative + merere, mereri, deserve: see merit. Cf. demerit, v.
  4. from Old French demerite, French démérite = Spanish Portuguese demerito = Italian demerito, demerto, from Middle Latin demeritum, fault, demerit, properly neuter of demeritus, past participle of demerere, deserve ill, do amiss: see demerit, v. Cf. demerit, n.
 

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/diˈmɛrɪt/
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