Hypertext Webster Gateway: "meretricious"
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) 1.7 (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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