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Glite Dictionary
redeeming

redeeming

21 4.6
A quality that makes someone or something seem better despite faults
  • adjective
  • /rɪˈdimɪŋ/
: 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
2 6.9

Providing help or payment to make up for a wrong

focuses more on improving acceptability rather than compensating damage
reparatory
vsredeeming
1 8.2

Helps restore health or strength

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

Antonyms

damaging
126 3.1

Likely to cause harm to a person or to their things

detrimental
48 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.