as in justified
being what is called for by accepted standards of right and wrong
a well deserved promotion for a hard worker
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deserved
Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 26 Nov. 2025
Well done, mate, well deserved.
—Liza Esquibias, PEOPLE, 5 Nov. 2025
Jason Beede, The Orlando Sentinel, 7 Jan. 2026
Following a closer analysis of the evidence against Williams in the years after his conviction, in 2021, a state judge held post-conviction hearings and concluded Williams deserved a new trial.
—Latoya Gayle, PEOPLE, 6 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for deserved
Adjective
Shedeur is finally getting a deserved shot to become the 4,077th quarterback since 1999 to try and save the Browns from themselves.
—Verb
And that group deserved to be on the floor.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for deserved
Adjective
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The justified fear was that without a conference affiliation with the two biggest schools in the Big 12 would be catastrophic to Texas Tech University, its football team, the entire athletic department, and to Lubbock itself.—
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Majumdar lavishes her characters with careful attention, and so the reader comes to regard their most troubling actions as justified, if not inevitable.—
Verb
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Snow is also coming off of a performance in Netflix's The Beast in Me, which earned a Golden Globes nod in the Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television category, as well as two other nominations for performances by leads Matthew Rhys and Claire Danes.—
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On the television side, popular shows like The Pitt, and The Studio won big at the Golden Globes, with Noah Wyle winning for his dramatic performance in the medical series, while Seth Rogen earned a Globe for his work in the streaming comedy.—
Cite this Entry
“Deserved.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deserved. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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