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Glite Dictionary
redeeming

redeeming

1 4.6
A quality that makes someone or something seem better despite faults
  • adjective
  • /rɪˈdimɪŋ/
translation icon : redentor
  • The movie was disappointing, but it did have a few redeeming moments.
  • redeeming quality
  • redeeming factor
  • socially redeeming

So she has all of the vapidity of brat but but none of the redeeming qualities.

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Examples

  • Have you ever met anybody who had no redeeming virtues whatsoever?

  • A redeeming factor for me is the rather fun chases, particularly notable being when Bond takes the wheel of a Citroën 2CV and shows his pursuers a thing or two about driving.

    Blog text (9)

  • The most redeeming aspect of his room was not in the room at all, but out of his window.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • I can find no redeeming qualities in him myself, but maybe his dog likes him.

    Blog text (9)

  • Her hotness appears to be the only redeeming factor of the films.

    Blog text (29)

  • Now, midway through, his most redeeming feature is his adorable dog.

    Blog text (15)

  • This is the only redeeming lesson that I can see in the Petraeus affair.

    Blog text (22)

  • Your specific assignment in this revision, though, is to find some redeeming qualities of character or personality in the Lydia figure.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • One of Fiona's most redeeming qualities is her interest in helping others.

  • The old painting finally found a redeeming feature when it was restored to its original colors.

Synonyms

redemptive
vsredeeming
9 7.5

Helping someone feel forgiven and want to change their life

is broader, making up faults and improving general acceptability
reparative
vsredeeming
4 6.9

Providing help or payment to make up for a wrong

focuses more on improving acceptability rather than compensating damage
redemptional
vsredeeming
  • Formal
9.9

About ideas or actions that make a person feel forgiven and like a better person

is wider, used for making things acceptable beyond religious sense
reparatory
vsredeeming
8.2

Helps restore health or strength

is not limited to physical repair and covers moral or social improvement

Antonyms

damaging
80 3.1

Likely to cause harm to a person or to their things

detrimental
49 6.3

Causing harm to people, things, or the environment

Surface Forms

redeeming positive

Morphology

redeeming = redeem (transparent) = redeem + ing

Formed by the verb 'redeem' plus the participial/derivational suffix '-ing'; the adjective meaning 'making up for faults' follows directly from the verb.

Etymology

Redeeming comes from the parts re- 'again' and emere 'to buy', so it originally meant 'to buy back'. That's why a redeeming quality is like something that 'buys back' a person's good side and makes up for faults.