at the mercy of
Idioms-
Also, at someone's mercy . Subject to the power of, helpless against, as in The captured rebels were at the mercy of the army commander . [Late 1500s]
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Without any protection against, as in On top of Mount Washington we were at the mercy of the elements . [Late 1600s]
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.
For the time being, all those companies are at the mercy of memory chip prices that keep moving higher.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026
In her story, we’re all at the mercy of each other’s whims.
From Salon • May 19, 2026
The entire stock market will soon become, for all intents and purposes, the meme-stock market, and your retirement accounts are at the mercy of their whims.
From Slate • May 15, 2026
"We are at the mercy of the affordability crisis," he told AFP at Gigi's, a small, wooden-floored restaurant in a trendy Brooklyn neighborhood.
From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026
Maybe even more important, it gave the average citizen—trapped in Philadelphia and at the mercy of the mysterious killer—cause for hope.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
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.
