A mark against a person for misconduct or failure; usually given in school or armed forces.

The quality of being inadequate or falling short of perfection:
— They discussed the merits and demerits of her novel.

synonym: fault.

Roget 945: vice; evil-doing, evil courses; wrongdoing; wickedness, viciousness etc. adj.; iniquity, peccability^†, demerit; sin, Adam^†; old Adam^†, offending Adam^†.    immorality, impropriety, indecorum, scandal, laxity, looseness of morals; enphagy^†, dophagy^†, exophagy^†; want of principle, want of ballast; obliquity, backsliding, infamy, demoralization, pravity^†, depravity, pollution; hardness of heart; brutality etc. (malevolence) 907; corruption etc. (debasement) 659; knavery etc. (improbity) 940^†; profligacy; flagrancy, atrocity; cannibalism; lesbianism, Sadism.    infirmity; weakness etc. adj.; weakness of the flesh, frailty, imperfection; error; weak side; foible; failing, failure; crying sin, besetting sin; defect, deficiency; cloven foot.    lowest dregs of vice, sink of iniquity, Alsatian den^†; gusto picaresco [It].    fault, crime; criminality etc. (guilt) 947.    sinner etc. 949.    [Resorts] brothel etc. 961; gambling house etc. 621; joint [Slang], opium den, shooting gallery, crack house.    ... show more

Dutch: feil, fout, ondeugd, tekort, tekortkoming, zwak, zwakheid, zwakte