Meretricious vs Meritorious
meretricious
gaudy/showy/insincere
meritorious
deserving praise
How to tell them apart
meRETRIcious sounds like 'merely-tricky-cious': flashy, showy, INSINCERE. meRITORIous has clean 'MERIT' in it, so it truly DESERVES praise.
Test yourself
Which word fits from context? Pick one, then reveal the answer. This is exactly how the GRE tests these pairs.
Question 1
Beneath its glittering veneer the advertisement was utterly , promising miraculous results that the deceptive company had no intention of delivering.
Choose: meretricious or meritorious
Show answer
Answer: meretricious
"glittering veneer" plus "deceptive... no intention of delivering" forces meretricious (showy/insincere); meritorious (praiseworthy) contradicts.
Question 2
The committee honored her service, citing decades of selfless volunteering that had genuinely transformed conditions in the impoverished district.
Choose: meretricious or meritorious
Show answer
Answer: meritorious
"honored," "selfless volunteering," and "genuinely transformed" force meritorious (deserving praise); meretricious (insincere) contradicts.
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