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
plural
mercenaries-
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
- mercenarily adverb
- mercenariness noun
- nonmercenary adjective
- unmercenarily adverb
- unmercenariness noun
- unmercenary adjective
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”; merchant ) + -ārius -ary
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.
Touadéra campaigned on his security record in the chronically unstable nation after rebels seized power in 2013, a crisis that led the government to enlist support from Russian mercenaries and Rwandan soldiers.
From BBC
Security forces were omnipresent in the capital's streets, with a significant deployment of police, army, and Wagner Group mercenaries.
From Barron's
Frank Capra, the multiple Academy Award winner whose everyman heroes symbolized the American spirit triumphing over mercenary or venal big business and big government, died Tuesday at his desert retirement home.
From Los Angeles Times
An AFP investigation has uncovered how Colombian mercenaries ended up on the other side of the world through a network of profit and silence stretching from the Andes to Darfur.
From Barron's
Hayden Davies, a former British soldier who Russia has called a mercenary, was reportedly captured in Ukraine's Donbas region in late 2024 or early 2025 while serving with the country's foreign legion.
From BBC
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.
