Merit and Need

Merit

Merit noun - A quality that gives something special worth.

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Need and merit are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Need" instead a noun "Merit".

Nearby Words: merited, meriting

Need noun - A state of being without something necessary, desirable, or useful.

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Merit and need are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Merit" instead a noun "Need".

Nearby Words: needed, needs, needy, needless, needful

special	special merit	special need
particular	particular merit	particular need
true	true merit	true need
genuine	genuine merit	genuine need
Other adjectives: single, sheer, obvious, actual, real, great, serious, huge, little, bad, personal, new, general, possible, limited, greater.

Even putting aside that scholarships do not work that way, Fiona's high academics and successful athletics more than qualify her for even the most basic merit awards, let alone need-based awards.

Source: Webcomic / Kevin & Kell
The sadistic ones literally have 'merit' in the title: you need to kill a bunch of enemies and humiliate them by challenging yourself in exchange for power.

Source: Medal of Dishonor
Since these characters need to be relatively flat by their own merit, they may be unpopular with the fanbase but simply being unpopular does not make them this trope.

Source: Vanilla Protagonist

Cite this Source

Need and Merit. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 22, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/merit/need

Merit & Need. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/merit/need>.

Need or Merit. 2016. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/merit/need.

Google Ngram Viewer shows how "merit" and "need" have occurred on timeline