deserved

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪˈzɜːvd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪˈzɝvd/

• Audio (US)

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• Hyphenation: de‧served

Adjective

deserved (comparative more deserved, superlative most deserved)

1. fair; merited.

   Antonym: undeserved

   • 1846, William Cooke Taylor, The National Portrait Gallery of Illustrious and Eminent Personages, Chiefly of the Nineteenth Century, page 34:

     But though he thus abstained from power, his eldest son, the present Lord Morpeth, as Secretary for Ireland at a critical period, acquired a higher reputation and a more deserved popularity than any statesman who ever held that office.

   • 1992, Scott Daniel Corey, Strength of the Pack: Revolution and Threat Management, page 36:

     When the victim fails or refuses, the punishment is perceived as being more deserved.

   • 2014, Wilco W. van Dijk, Jaap W. Ouwerkerk, Schadenfreude, page 234:

     For example, Van Dijk et al. (2005) showed that individuals who were seen to be responsible for their own misfortune evoked more schadenfreude and less sympathy than individuals who were not held responsible for their misfortunes, and that these effects were mediated by the perceived deservingness of the misfortune (i.e., misfortunes for which a target was held responsible were seen as more deserved and in turn elicited more schadenfreude and less sympathy).

Verb

deserved

1. simple past and past participle of deserve

Derived terms

• ill-deserved
• undeserved
• well-deserved