1
2
: hired for service in the army of a foreign country
Examples of mercenary in a Sentence
Adjective
His motives in choosing a career were purely mercenary.
they were a mercenary couple, who defined themselves not by what they were but by what they owned
Recent Examples on the Web
Jeff Spry, Space.com, 6 June 2026
The battle shaped up with 2,800 Americans facing 8,000 Hessians (mercenary soldiers from six German territories in the Holy Roman Empire.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 May 2026
The plot is based around a routine jury site visit that turns deadly when a mercenary kill team led by Hewitt (Adkins) storms the location in search of a secret ledger detailing citywide corruption.
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 13 May 2026
The recent series of events—none of which, on their face, are as dramatic as an armed uprising of mercenary fighters—has created a sense that the political system is at once tightly controlled and utterly rudderless.
—Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 8 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for mercenary
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Adjective
With his gregarious nature and hard-drinking demeanor, Lobo is an intimidating extraterrestrial mercenary and bounty hunter, but his origin story is brutal, even by those standards.
—Jeff Spry, Space.com, 6 June 2026
The battle shaped up with 2,800 Americans facing 8,000 Hessians (mercenary soldiers from six German territories in the Holy Roman Empire.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 May 2026
The plot is based around a routine jury site visit that turns deadly when a mercenary kill team led by Hewitt (Adkins) storms the location in search of a secret ledger detailing citywide corruption.
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 13 May 2026
The recent series of events—none of which, on their face, are as dramatic as an armed uprising of mercenary fighters—has created a sense that the political system is at once tightly controlled and utterly rudderless.
—Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 8 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for mercenary
Cite this Entry
“Mercenary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mercenary. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mercenary
1 of 2 noun
mer·ce·nary
ˈmərs-ᵊn-ˌer-ē 
plural mercenaries
: one that serves only for wages
especially
: a soldier hired by a foreign country to fight in its army
mercenary
2 of 2 adjective1
: serving only for the pay or reward
mercenary armies
mercenary soldier
2
: greedy for money
mercenary business owners
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