DESERVINGNESS

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

Meaning:

The quality of being deserving (e.g., deserving assistance)

Example:

there were many children whose deservingness he recognized and rewarded

Synonyms:

deservingness; merit; meritoriousness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("deservingness" is a kind of...):

worthiness (the quality or state of having merit or value)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "deservingness"):

desert ((usually plural) a person's deservingness of or entitlement to reward or punishment)

Derivation:

deserving ((often used ironically) worthy of being treated in a particular way)