Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for mercenary

mercenary

[ mur-suh-ner-ee ]

adjective

  1. working or acting merely for money or other reward; venal.

    Synonyms: covetous, avaricious, acquisitive, grasping

    Antonyms: unselfish, idealistic, altruistic

  2. hired to serve in a foreign army, guerrilla organization, etc.


noun

, plural mer·ce·nar·ies.
  1. a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army.
  2. any hireling.

mercenary

/ ˈmɜːsɪnərɪ; -sɪnrɪ /

adjective

  1. influenced by greed or desire for gain
  2. of or relating to a mercenary or mercenaries
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. a man hired to fight for a foreign army, etc
  2. rare.
    any person who works solely for pay
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Derived Forms

  • ˈmercenarily, adverb
  • ˈmercenariness, noun
Discover More

Other Words From

  • mer·ce·nar·i·ly [mur-s, uh, -, nair, -, uh, -lee, mur, -s, uh, -ner-], adverb
  • merce·nari·ness noun
  • non·mercen·ary adjective noun plural nonmercenaries
  • unmer·ce·nari·ly adverb
  • un·merce·nari·ness noun
  • un·merce·nary adjective
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of mercenary1

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”; merchant ) + -ārius -ary
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of mercenary1

C16: from Latin mercēnārius, from mercēs wages
Discover More

Example Sentences

Her portrayal as a battle-hardened mercenary was met with positive reviews, with many lauding her on-screen performance as an inspiration for young women.

Zambernardi also controlled a team of mercenaries he called Rudos—“tough guys”—from Mexico’s corrupt and violent Federal Judicial Police.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have outsourced their fighting in Yemen and Libya to brutal mercenaries of the Darfur civil war.

From Ozy

Some of these mercenaries were basically employed knights, who lacked fiefs, and thus were paid salaries by their overlords.

His second-in-command was the marechal, who was responsible for paying the mercenaries, organizing the fighting divisions and playing his supervisory role in regards to the discipline and equipment of the army.

As a former agent himself, Horrigan hopes to disabuse renters of the notion that brokers are mercenary con artists.

“I did not have enough money to bribe the judge, so I decided to become a mercenary,” Mozhayev told a local reporter.

The scene ends with a Street Fighter-like battle between Captain America and a mercenary.

By mid-to-late evening, there was overwhelming evidence that Russia was using a mix of mercenary and conscript forces.

A dreamy, blue-eyed rebel is approached by a mercenary wearing a scary mask.

Above all, he was amazed to hear me talk of a mercenary standing army in the midst of peace and among a free people.

If all the world did not wag his way, so much the worse for cold-blooded mercenary superfluous beings.

But this pious reverence gave place to a more mercenary spirit, and the trade in relics became a traffic of infamy and disgrace.

It is perhaps something of a surprise to find him a mercenary in seventeenth-century Holland; but the old touch is there.

The first were large bands of discharged mercenary soldiers who pillaged the country.

Advertisement

Related Words

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


Mercedesmercer