meretricious
/ˌmɛɹɪˈtɹɪʃəs/
"meretricious" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“meretricious” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tastelessly gaudy; superficially attractive but having in reality no value or substance; falsely alluring.
Corpus desk
Index EN-meretricious · meretricious · English
meretricious · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | meretricious |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˌmɛɹɪˈtɹɪʃəs/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “meretricious” in English
Rare enough to double-check
meretricious is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˌmɛɹɪˈtɹɪʃəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for meretricious, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin meretrīcius, from meretrīx (“harlot, prostitute”), from mereō (“earn, deserve, merit”) (English merit) + -trīx (“(female agent)”) (English -trix). The correct English form is meretricious, spelled M-E-R-E-T-R-I-C-I-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Tastelessly gaudy; superficially attractive but having in reality no value or substance; falsely alluring.
- 2Involving unlawful sexual connection or lack of consent by at least one party (said of a romantic relationship).
- 3Of, or relating to prostitutes or prostitution.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how meretricious appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I discovered even, by his conversation, when intoxicated that his favourites were wantons of the lowest class, who could by their vulgar, indecent mirth, which he called nature, rouse his sluggish spirits. Meretricious ornaments and manners were necessary to attract his attention.
It might be reasonably objected elsewhere, that some of the tombs are meretricious and too fanciful; but the general brightness seems to justify it here; and Mount Vesuvius, separated from them by a lovely slope of ground, exalts and saddens the scene.
Etymology
From Latin meretrīcius, from meretrīx (“harlot, prostitute”), from mereō (“earn, deserve, merit”) (English merit) + -trīx (“(female agent)”) (English -trix).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.