as in conspicuous
formal + disapproving
attractive in a cheap or false way
meretricious beauty lacking in any real substance
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Recent Examples of meretricious
Denzel Washington stars as Macrinus, a meretricious arms dealer who own a stable of gladiators, while Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger are brothers and ruling emperors.
—
Zoe Guy, Vulture, 1 July 2024
But as a character study, with Holocaust themes deepening the stakes of the domestic turmoil, the play holds up extremely well in its critique of a world that has lost its capacity for silence and that is prepared to sacrifice literature for meretricious distraction.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2024
The heads of banks, corporations, universities, law firms, foundations, and media companies were neither more nor less venal, meretricious, and greedy than their counterparts today.
—George Packer, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2011
The bullying tactics being used to sell this boondoggle are underhanded and meretricious.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 25 Jan. 2024
These shows raised the bar for musical drama and proved to Broadway that meretricious soullessness isn’t the only way.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2023
You’re left with a feeling of overwhelming perversity, of a kind of meretricious, insane God out there playing games.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 19 Oct. 2023
By condescending to the twins’ evident lack of cultural exposure, the media compound a circumstance that suggests remote parental influence — and dereliction of our rapaciously indifferent consumer culture that sells only what is new and meretricious.
—Armond White, National Review, 28 Aug. 2020
Today’s sleek, simple anti-It Bags, on the other hand, telegraph a less meretricious sort of chic.
—Fiorella Valdesolo, WSJ, 7 Jan. 2023
Zoe Guy, Vulture, 1 July 2024
But as a character study, with Holocaust themes deepening the stakes of the domestic turmoil, the play holds up extremely well in its critique of a world that has lost its capacity for silence and that is prepared to sacrifice literature for meretricious distraction.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2024
The heads of banks, corporations, universities, law firms, foundations, and media companies were neither more nor less venal, meretricious, and greedy than their counterparts today.
—George Packer, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2011
The bullying tactics being used to sell this boondoggle are underhanded and meretricious.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 25 Jan. 2024
These shows raised the bar for musical drama and proved to Broadway that meretricious soullessness isn’t the only way.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2023
You’re left with a feeling of overwhelming perversity, of a kind of meretricious, insane God out there playing games.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 19 Oct. 2023
By condescending to the twins’ evident lack of cultural exposure, the media compound a circumstance that suggests remote parental influence — and dereliction of our rapaciously indifferent consumer culture that sells only what is new and meretricious.
—Armond White, National Review, 28 Aug. 2020
Today’s sleek, simple anti-It Bags, on the other hand, telegraph a less meretricious sort of chic.
—Fiorella Valdesolo, WSJ, 7 Jan. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for meretricious
Adjective
-
Costs have been driven in part by levies to prevent and insure against wildfires, but the analysts anticipate a less conspicuous source of pressure on power bills going forward: growing electricity demand from data centers.—
CalMatters,
The Mercury News,
19 Feb. 2025
-
If Hochul does fire Adams, Cuomo — who’s kept a careful distance from Adams and a conspicuous silence about his problems — would almost surely enter the mayor’s race as its frontrunner instead of running against Hochul next year to win back his old job.—
Harry Siegel,
New York Daily News,
15 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
O’Neill, who spent 20 years writing and obsessing over Chaos, has acknowledged his more remarkable findings lead only to speculative conclusions.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
21 Feb. 2025
-
The rise of the side hustle culture has been remarkable in recent years.—
Cheryl Robinson,
Forbes,
21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The Spaniard scored a header to give the Gunners the lead, then six minutes later, finished off a brilliant counter-attacking move to seal the victory.—
Sam Tighe,
The Athletic,
21 Feb. 2025
-
Using a combination of many brilliant innovations, and among other accomplishments, DeepSeek was able to reduce the cost of inference or thinking by a substantial amount.—
Philip Maymin,
Forbes,
21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The project involves using implosives to connect wires on that segment, hence the loud booms heard by those who live nearby.—
Angela Palermo,
Idaho Statesman,
22 Feb. 2025
-
At night, everyone heads for Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí (there’s a cost to attend), the massive stadium that is the kickoff point for the boisterous and loud samba parades that take place throughout the night.—
Ramsey Qubein,
Forbes,
22 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The flare cut is also wide enough to be noticeable, but slim enough to wear without feeling too voluminous.—
Alyssa Grabinski,
People.com,
24 Feb. 2025
-
The lighter weight is definitely noticeable, which coupled with the rounded corners make the phone much more comfortable to hold.—
Ben Sin,
Forbes,
24 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The attack marks a dramatic change in Dana for the episodes to come, LaNasa says.—
Ashley Boucher,
EW.com,
28 Feb. 2025
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One other important but under-publicized recent change has been a dramatic infrastructure improvement in India’s roadways.—
Larry Olmsted,
Forbes,
28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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In another striking display of Ukrainian air power on or just before Thursday, a robotic Aeroprakt A-22 bomber, presumably flown by the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces, flew low over Bryansk under the cover of darkness and dropped a 550-pound bomb on a Russian installation.—
David Axe,
Forbes,
28 Feb. 2025
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Soon after the striking Oval Office meeting, a host of European leaders took to social media to express their support for Ukraine.—
Brian Bennett,
TIME,
28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The awards honor unit publicists, individual publicists, outstanding publicity campaigns for television and motion picture, journalists and unit still photographers.—
Erik Pedersen,
Deadline,
28 Feb. 2025
-
Luckily, there are many outstanding options to choose from.—
Laura Jackson,
Vogue,
28 Feb. 2025
Articles Related to meretricious
Cite this Entry
“Meretricious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/meretricious. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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