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

mercenaries 

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

noun

1. a man hired to fight for a foreign army, etc

2. rare,  any person who works solely for pay

Other Word Forms

• mercenarily adverb
• mercenariness noun
• nonmercenary adjective
• unmercenarily adverb
• unmercenariness noun
• unmercenary adjective

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of mercenary¹

C16: from Latin mercēnārius, from mercēs wages

Example Sentences

A daughter of South Africa's ex-president Jacob Zuma has resigned from parliament after claims she was involved in recruiting men to join Russian mercenaries in the Ukraine war, her party said Friday.

Read more on Barron's

Earlier this month, the South African government confirmed it had received distress calls from 17 of its citizens trapped in Donbas after being lured to join mercenary forces on the promise of lucrative contracts.

Read more on BBC

The junta pivoted towards Russia, enlisting the help of the Wagner mercenary group, which was at the time linked to the Kremlin.

Read more on BBC

The army at the time rejected "foreign interference" - which observers say is a reference to the UAE - and any attempts that equated it with a "racist terrorist militia that relies on foreign mercenaries".

Read more on BBC

South Africa's government previously said it had received distress calls from 17 citizens who had joined mercenary forces in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• acquisitive 
• selfish 
• unscrupulous