mercifully
Britishadverb
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in a way that shows mercy; compassionately
mercifully put down
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(sentence modifier) fortunately; one is relieved to say that
mercifully, all went well
Explanation
When you do something mercifully, you do it in a kind, sympathetic, or humane manner. If you're absolutely starving after school, your parents might mercifully bring you a snack to eat on the way to soccer practice. Mercy is the quality of being forgiving or compassionate, and when you act mercifully, you behave in a forgiving or compassionate way. This word is also frequently used to mean "fortunately" or "luckily" — like when a bad movie is mercifully short or a hot day turns into a mercifully cool evening. Mercy and its related forms derive from the Latin word merces, meaning "reward" or "pity."
Vocabulary lists containing mercifully
The Book of Three
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The Jumbies
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Popcorn
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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.
If the war is mercifully short and risk appetite troughs in March, as Hartnett and team expect, then the bid for what he refers to as the inflation boom beneficiaries should reassert itself.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 6, 2026
Maybe all of this chaos will be tidily wrapped up before the end of the month and any fallout will be mercifully avoided.
From Slate • Mar. 6, 2026
The Patriots scored touchdowns on each of their first six possessions before mercifully pulling their starters in the third quarter.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2025
Ms Stonecliffe KC told Judge Richard Marks KC that "mercifully" the girl had recovered from her wounds, but the girl is "deeply conscious of her physical scars".
From BBC • Dec. 16, 2025
First he turned off the engine, which automatically and mercifully silenced the whistle.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
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.
