at the mercy of

phrase

: wholly in the power of : with no way to protect oneself against

We were at the mercy of the weather.

Examples of at the mercy of in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Much of the country is at the mercy of Russian missiles that have hammered its power grid since 2022, making winters almost unbearable. — Illia Novikov, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2026

The crowd was reborn through the spread legs and stranded at the mercy of small-hours London. — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 13 July 2026

This leaves patients at the mercy of price increases and supply issues, which are common in a disaster scenario. — Durrie Bouscaren, NPR, 8 July 2026

By being the renter rather than the landlord, Meta is at the mercy of those with compute. — Zev Fima, CNBC, 8 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1594, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for at the mercy of

• above
• foxglove
• hereof
• thereof
• whereof
• dove
• glove
• love
• shove
• hereinabove