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
Fill in the blank: “Only one of these words means gaudy/showy/insincere. That word is ______.”
Choose: meretricious or meritorious
Show answer
Answer: meretricious
Meretricious means gaudy/showy/insincere, which matches gaudy/showy/insincere. Meritorious means deserving praise, so it is the wrong choice here.
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