considerable, exceptional, great, outstanding
actual, real, true
a lawsuit that lacked any real merit

intrinsic
obvious
comparative, relative
We need to consider the relative merits of both makes of dishwasher.

dubious, questionable
individual
Each case should be judged on its individual merits.

personal
She was elected on personal merit.

academic, aesthetic, architectural, artistic, intellectual, legal, literary, musical, scientific, technical
The movie has no artistic merit whatsoever.

have
argue, assess, compare, consider, debate, determine, discuss, evaluate, examine, judge, weigh (esp. BrE), weigh up (esp. BrE)
We need to assess the merits of both proposals before making our decision.

question
I began to question the merits of these new technologies.

lack
The play lacked artistic merit.

prove
She proved her merit as a serious actress.

acknowledge, appreciate, recognize, see
She saw the merit in this arrangement.

find
I find no merit at all in any of the arguments.

award
She received a merit award for outstanding work.

badge
pay (AmE)
increase, raise (both AmE)
decisions on merit raises and promotions

scholarship (AmE)
system (esp. AmE)
Other schools already have merit systems in place that reward good work.

according to merit
Movies are given a rating of one to five stars according to merit.

on merit
Prizes are awarded entirely on merit.

merit in
There is some merit in his argument.

merit to
There is lots of merit to the idea.

no merit in sth/doing sth
I can see no merit in excluding the child from school.
I found no artistic merit in this film.

order of merit (BrE)
The winners are ranked in order of merit.

certainly, clearly
barely, hardly
The question hardly merits an answer.

Merit is used with these nouns as the object:
attention, consideration, discussion, explanation, inclusion, investigation, mention, recognition