unmerited

adjective

un·​mer·​it·​ed ˌən-ˈmer-ə-təd How to pronounce unmerited (audio)
-ˈme-rə-
: not adequately earned or deserved : not merited
an unmerited award
unmerited insults
unmerited criticism/praise

Examples of unmerited in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Some have claimed that the cuts are unmerited, given that culture funding accounts for just over 2 percent of Berlin city budget. Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 6 Dec. 2024 But such intercommunal attacks, however vicious and unmerited, are not the cause of the M23 rebellion but a response to it: many Congolese of other ethnicities automatically assume local Tutsis support the rebel group and have therefore lashed out against them. Michela Wrong, Foreign Affairs, 13 Apr. 2023 This does not excuse the subsequent Republican descent into conspiracy-theory madness and all that has followed from that, but the kernel of mistrust at the center of that paranoiac outlook is not entirely unmerited. Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 26 May 2021 Beyond that, President Biden’s attacks on the court are unmerited and dangerous. Michael Collins, USA TODAY, 30 June 2022 My personal trials have also taught me the value of unmerited suffering. Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review, 26 Apr. 2021 The good nap alights upon you like the grace of God: weightless, unmerited, spirit-altering. James Parker, The Atlantic, 19 Dec. 2020 JoJo is reminiscent of the donkey-saint in Robert Bresson’s Au Hasard Balthazar, a symbol of innocence, of unmerited suffering. Casey Gerald, The New York Review of Books, 7 Mar. 2020 The billboard ban legislation would slap yet another unfair — and unmerited — burden upon this new industry. BostonGlobe.com, 16 Jan. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1581, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unmerited was in 1581

Dictionary Entries Near unmerited

Cite this Entry

“Unmerited.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unmerited. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on unmerited

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!