Deserve Meaning
/dɪˈzɜːv/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo be entitled to, as a result of past actions; to be worthy to have.
verbTo earn, win.
Sentence Examples
You deserve the prize.
You deserve to succeed.
You deserve a rest after all that hard work.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
After years of hard work, you ____ a promotion and a raise.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You ____ the prize.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English deserven, from Old French deservir, from Latin dēserviō, from dē- + serviō.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 11:6:
"John Gay deserved to be a favourite."
— 1853, William Makepeace Thackeray, The English Humorists of the Eighteenth Century:
"the grantees named in the questioned deed executed by their father richly deserved receiving the family home."
— 1967, The Pacific Reporter, page 510:
"Perhaps they do, but they don't deserve that the rest of us contribute money or appropriate public funds for the purchase of pictures and the construction of buildings."
— 2008, Michael Walzer, Spheres Of Justice: A Defense Of Pluralism And Equality, page 24:
"That gentle Lady, whom I loue and serue, / After long suit and weary seruicis, / Did aske me, how I could her loue deserue, / And how she might be sure, that I would neuer swerue."
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After years of hard work, you ____ a promotion and a raise.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You ____ the prize.