meretricious
/ˌmɛɹɪˈtɹɪʃəs/adjective
meretricious is spelled M-E-R-E-T-R-I-C-I-O-U-S: 12 letters. It appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 159,707th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, meretricious means “Tastelessly gaudy; superficially attractive but having in reality no value or substance; falsely alluring” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in meretricious?
| Letters | 12: M-E-R-E-T-R-I-C-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 28 million words; the 159,707th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is meretricious?
Meretricious appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 159,707th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce meretricious?
- /ˌmɛɹɪˈtɹɪʃəs/
- /ˌmɛɹəˈtɹɪʃəs/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-meretricious.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of meretricious
- more meretricious comparative
- most meretricious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does meretricious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Tastelessly gaudy; superficially attractive but having in reality no value or substance; falsely alluring.
- 2
Involving unlawful sexual connection or lack of consent by at least one party (said of a romantic relationship).
- 3
obsoleteOf, or relating to prostitutes or prostitution.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Meretricious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | spécieux, de mauvais goût , racoleur, putassier |
| German | protzig, großspurig, ordinär, großkotzig , dirnenhaft |
| Spanish | meretricio |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does meretricious come from?
From Latin meretrīcius, from meretrīx (“harlot, prostitute”), from mereō (“earn, deserve, merit”) (English merit) + -trīx (“(female agent)”) (English -trix).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).