Meretricious
/ˌmɛrɪˈtrɪʃəs/
adjectiveC2
Definition
Meretricious means something that seems bright or beautiful on the outside but is actually cheap, fake, or not important inside. It often describes things or people that try to look good to get attention but do not have real worth or honesty.
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See It in Action
Attractive in a way that is false or superficial
- •The decorations were meretricious, bright but made of cheap plastic.
- •His promises were meretricious, meant only to impress but never kept.
- •The movie used meretricious special effects that distracted from the weak story.
Insincere or trying to gain attention by false means
- •She gave a meretricious smile to get the manager’s approval.
- •The advertisement was meretricious, using flashy images but no real information.
Make It Stick
- ✓Think of "meretricious" like "pretty," but only on the surface—it's like a cheap toy that looks nice but breaks easily
- ✓Picture a shiny, colorful box that looks exciting but is empty inside
- ✓It's the feeling when you realize something or someone is trying too hard to impress but feels fake or dishonest
- ✓Sounds like "merry-trish-us" → imagine a merry (happy) person named Trish who smiles a lot but hides secrets; the smile is only for show
- ✓Think of a flashy sign that catches your eye but leads to a poor-quality store—looks good but disappointing
- ✓NOT like "beautiful" (real, natural beauty), "meretricious" is fake or showy beauty without true value
- ✓NOT like "honest" (truthful and real), "meretricious" is often false or insincere
- ✓NOT like "simple" (plain, real) but "meretricious" is overly decorated or flashy to hide emptiness
Try Other Words
- •Gaudy: overly bright and tasteless (Use when something is bright and ugly but not necessarily false)
- •Showy: designed to attract attention (Use when focus is on attracting attention but not always false)
- •Tawdry: cheap and low quality but bright (Use when something looks cheap and unpleasant)
- •Superficial: only on the surface, not deep or real (Use when meaning is about lack of real depth or truth)
Unboxing
- •Word parts: from Latin "meretrix" meaning "prostitute" + suffix "-ious" meaning "having qualities of"
- •Etymology: originally described things like a prostitute’s flashy or cheap appearance to attract clients
- •Historical development: came to mean anything that is falsely attractive or insincere, not just related to people
- •Modern usage: used to describe objects, behavior, or ideas that are flashy but lack real value or honesty
- •Interesting fact: Though the root relates to prostitution, today it is mostly used for describing false or cheap attractiveness in many contexts
Reflect & Connect
•Can something be beautiful and meretricious at the same time? How would you tell the difference?
•Why do you think people or things sometimes use meretricious appearances to get attention?
Fill in the blanks
1.The decorations were meretricious because they looked ___ but were made of cheap ___.
2.His words sounded meretricious, trying to ___ us but not meaning what he said.
3.Unlike true art, meretricious pieces often lack ___ or deep ___.
4.The advertisement was meretricious, full of ___ images but no real ___.
5.She gave a meretricious smile, hoping to ___ the manager’s ___.
6.Meretricious things often try to attract attention by being ___ or ___.
7.When something is meretricious, it looks good on the outside but ___ inside.