1. deserving reward or praise: "a medal for meritorious conduct"
▪ (of an action or claim) likely to succeed on the merits of the case:"the costs involved in civil litigation may prevent a meritorious appeal"
Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘entitling a person to reward’): from late Latin meritorius (from merit- ‘earned’, from the verb mereri) + -ous.