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.
LISBON—The agent manning the passport control line warned me not to be fooled by the mercifully short line that greeted me upon arrival at Portugal’s Lisbon International Airport on the last Friday in July.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
In recent weeks though the ocean around Okinawa has been mercifully cooled by typhoons scooping up deep-sea water as they tear across the Pacific.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
The family were, mercifully perhaps, not present to hear the vicious argument with shouts of "condemn it", cries of "shame", and jeers and boos on Wednesday.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
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
My father, as I say, came of a generation mercifully free of such confusions of our professional values.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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.
