ENGLISH
REFERENCE

deserved

v.
B1 Intermediate US //dɪˈzɝvd// UK //dɪzˈɜːvd// de·served

v. to have earned something because of your actions or qualities. You use this when someone should get a reward or a punishment because of what they did.

v. to be worthy of or have a right to something based on merit, actions, or qualities. Transitive — requires a direct object representing the consequence or reward.


SIMPLE

She worked hard and deserved the promotion.

CONTEXTUAL

After months of training for the marathon, he felt he deserved a long vacation on the beach.

COMPLEX

While the critic acknowledged the film's technical brilliance, he argued that the lead actor deserved more recognition for his nuanced portrayal of the protagonist.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Usage

The verb is transitive and takes a direct object; it is rarely used in the continuous (progressive) form.

Pitfall

She is deserving a prize.She deserves a prize.Deserve is a stative verb and is generally not used in the continuous '-ing' form.

© 2026 English Reference