Merit
Merit noun - A quality that gives something special worth.
Skill
Skill noun - Subtle or imaginative ability in inventing, devising, or executing something.
How words are described
| individual | individual merit | individual skill |
| pure | pure merit | pure skill |
| special | special merit | special skill |
| equal | equal merit | equal skill |
| Other adjectives: particular, common, exceptional, right, considerable, true, single, sheer, actual, real, great, little, personal, new, useful, final, extra, greater, technical. | ||
Both words in one sentence
- Paranoia has "clearance levels" that are theoretically merit-based rankings where greater skill is rewarded by more authority and higher quality of life, but in reality it's a Fantastic Caste System where the only merit that counts for anything is the ability to manipulate Friend Computer.
Source: Fake Aristocrat - Yet Karna, despite being cursed by fate and bad luck proves to be a great warrior solely by merit, skill and ability.
Source: Villainous Underdog -
They quickly rewrote it in the errata so it now acts as the original version of the Linguistics skill, except as a merit.
Source: Omniglot
Cite this Source
Skill and Merit. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 22, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/merit/skill
Merit & Skill. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/merit/skill>.
Skill or Merit. 2016. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/merit/skill.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "merit" and "skill" have occurred on timeline