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meretricious |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Meretricious \Mer`e*tri"cious\, a. [L. meretricius, from meretrix -icis, a prostitute, lit., one who earns money, i. e., by prostitution, fr merere to earn, gain. See {Merit}.] 1. Of or pertaining to prostitutes; having to do with harlots; lustful; as meretricious traffic. 2. Resembling the arts of a harlot; alluring by false show gaudily and deceitfully ornamental; tawdry; as meretricious dress or ornaments. -- {Mer`e*tri"cious*ly}, adv -- {Mer`e*tri"cious*ness}, n. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: meretricious adj 1: (archaic) like or relating to a prostitute; "meretricious relationships" 2: tastelessly showy; "a flash car"; "a flashy ring"; "garish colors"; "a gaudy costume"; "loud sport shirts"; "a meretricious yet stylish book"; "tawdry ornaments" [syn: {brassy}, {cheap}, {flash}, {flashy}, {garish}, {gaudy}, {gimcrack}, {loud}, {tacky}, {tatty}, {tawdry}, {trashy}] 3: based on pretense; deceptively pleasing; "the gilded and perfumed but inwardly rotten nobility"; "meretricious praise"; "a meretricious argument" [syn: {gilded}, {specious}]
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