On the radio today, someone used the word meretricious with the intended meaning of 'deserving' or 'worthy'. The Concise Oxford Dictionary says that it means 'showily but falsely attractive' or 'of or befitting a prostitute'. I wonder what the speaker...
Sometimes a person uses a word to mean what they think it means. I don't believe I have used the word myself, but I would understand meretricious to mean doing something solely for money (and not out of principle).
One should be careful to be sure of oneself before one uses an unfamiliar word.
Meretricious 
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