mercenary
Americanadjective
-
working or acting merely for money or other reward; venal.
- Synonyms:
- covetous, avaricious, acquisitive, grasping
- Antonyms:
- unselfish, idealistic, altruistic
-
hired to serve in a foreign army, guerrilla organization, etc.
noun
-
a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army.
-
any hireling.
adjective
-
influenced by greed or desire for gain
-
of or relating to a mercenary or mercenaries
noun
-
a man hired to fight for a foreign army, etc
-
rare any person who works solely for pay
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of mercenary
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English mercenarie, from Latin mercēnnārius “working for pay, hired worker, mercenary,” perhaps from earlier mercēd(i)nārius (unrecorded), from mercēdin- (unrecorded), variant stem of mercēs “payment, wage” (akin to merx “goods”; cf. merchant) + -ārius -ary
Explanation
You might not want to call a mercenary a "hireling" to his face, but a mercenary is, after all, a soldier who gets paid to fight where needed, sometimes taking a heroic stand and other times just wanting payment for fighting. The word mercenary comes from the Latin mercēnārius, "hireling," which defines someone who will do anything in exchange for money. In history, a mercenary was often a fighter who followed the next paycheck, but in recent decades it's also been used for fighters who pursue a good cause in areas where soldiers are in short supply. A synonym for mercenary is "soldier of fortune," and this phrase sometimes glorifies the mercenary, turning the meaning of "fortune" from "cash" to "luck in battle."
Vocabulary lists containing mercenary
Material World: Shopping Lingo
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100 Words to Make You Sound Smart
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The American Revolution - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Mercenary" is a particularly pejorative word in Arabic.
From Barron's • Nov. 5, 2025
The fate of the Mercenary group has been in question during the months since, amid reports that some of its fighters have resumed work for the Russian government overseas or for other countries, including Belarus.
From Washington Times • Nov. 12, 2023
Mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list, officials said, but it wasn’t immediately clear if he was on board.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 23, 2023
Mercenary work became a primary occupation for commoners.
From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023
Mercenary captains are either excellent men or they are not.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
