Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Keep "demerit" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "demerit" intact in the sentence you are editing.
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
After choosing a replacement for "demerit", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "demerit" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
7 total sentences available.
[W]hatever they acquire by their Induſtry or Ingenuity […] ſhould be as much their Property, as any diviſions of Land or of Stock that are made to the Sons; and the Poſſeſſion as ſecure, unleſs forfeited by any demerit or offence againſt the cuſtoms of the Family, which grow with time to be the Orders of this little State.
Source: wiktionary
They see no merit or demerit in any man or any action.
Source: wiktionary
A few of you have followed in the path of the perfect West Point graduate, Robert E. Lee, who never received a single demerit in four years. Some of you followed in the path of the imperfect graduate, Ulysses S. Grant, who had his fair share of demerits, and said the happiest day of his life was "the day I left West Point." (Laughter.)
Source: wiktionary
I fall to riſe, mount to thy maker, ſpirit, /. Leaue here thy body, death ha's her demerit.
Source: wiktionary
Showing 4 of 7 available sentences.
Closest matches include break, bust, censure, condemn, criticize.
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.