Made me tired, but was worth it! (7)

I believe the answer is:

merited

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'but was worth it' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'made me tired' is the wordplay.
'made' indicates an anagram.
'me'+'tired'='metired'
'metired' anagrammed gives 'MERITED'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for merited that I've seen before include "Properly earned or deserved" , "Deresved" , "Was worthy" , "appropriate" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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