Definition of meretricious in English English dictionary
Tastelessly gaudy; superficially attractive but having no substance; falsely alluring
When I lifted my eyes from the page, there was none of the meretricious argument London always offers that the sole real purpose in life is to hustle for a buck.
Resembling the arts of a harlot; alluring by false show; gaudily and deceitfully ornamental; tawdry; as, meretricious dress or ornaments
tastelessly showy; "a flash car"; "a flashy ring"; "garish colors"; "a gaudy costume"; "loud sport shirts"; "a meretricious yet stylish book"; "tawdry ornaments"
{s} alluring in a vulgar or gaudy way; wanton, lewd; cheap, loud; of or pertaining to a prostitute; deceptive, based on a falsehood
based on pretense; deceptively pleasing; "the gilded and perfumed but inwardly rotten nobility"; "meretricious praise"; "a meretricious argument"
disapproval If you describe something as meretricious, you disapprove of it because although it looks attractive it is actually of little value. vulgar, meretricious and shabby souvenirs. something that is meretricious seems attractive but has no real value or is not based on the truth (meretricius, from meretrix , from merere; MERIT)