mercenary

noun

mer·ce·nary | \ ˈmər-sə-ˌner-ē ,

-ne-rē \

plural mercenaries

Definition of mercenary

(Entry 1 of 2)

: one that serves merely for wages especially : a soldier hired into foreign service mercenaries who guaranteed the success of the rebellion —B. F. Reilly

mercenary

adjective

Definition of mercenary (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : serving merely for pay or sordid advantage : venal also : greedy

2 : hired for service in the army of a foreign country

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Other words from mercenary

Adjective

mercenarily \ˌmər-sə-ˈner-ə-lē,

-ˈne-rə- \ adverb

mercenariness \ˈmər-sə-ˌner-ē-nəs,

-ˌne-rē- \ noun

Examples of mercenary in a Sentence

Noun

an army of foreign mercenaries

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: Noun

These mercenaries of aggressive swing take to the seas, fulfilling the dreams of punk rock pirates everywhere. — New York Times, "13 Pop, Rock and Jazz Concerts to Check Out in N.Y.C. This Weekend," 5 July 2018 One day soon, the best mercenaries will be willing to sacrifice money and years to play alongside Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. — Marcus Hayes, Philly.com, "Sixers weren't ready for LeBron James or Paul George | Marcus Hayes," 4 July 2018 There is always tension, in a relationship that can be mutually beneficial but also is mercenary at its core. — Tim Layden, SI.com, "Trainer Bob Baffert, Justify Jockey Mike Smith Relish a Remarkable Ride Before Belmont Stakes," 6 June 2018 On February 7, Russian mercenaries fired at American troops in eastern Syria. — Alex Ward, Vox, "The real (but small) danger of a US-Russia war over Syria," 14 Apr. 2018 Remember, Secretary Mattis said U.S. forces have killed over 200 Russian mercenaries in Syria. — Fox News, "Gorka, Hollman preview Trump's upcoming summit with Putin," 30 June 2018 Get ready to be called a heartless mercenary again, LeBron, but this time there won’t be rings to distract from the blowback. 4. — Chris Chase, For The Win, "What talking heads will say about LeBron for every potential destination," 13 June 2018 Herrera will play Javier Gallegos, a mercenary willing to kill for the highest bidder. — Rosy Cordero, The Hollywood Reporter, "'The Exorcist' Star Alfonso Herrera Joins USA Network's 'Queen of the South' (Exclusive)," 31 May 2018 Their hunt throws them into conflict with bands of mercenaries, corrupt police officers, and some of the gods that inhabit Dinétah. — Andrew Liptak, The Verge, "Trail of Lightning is a breathtaking Native American urban fantasy adventure," 26 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

The clips from Primal featured an extended, semi-acrobatic knife fight between Cage and the mercenary villain (played by Kevin Durand). — Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, "Shanghai: Nicolas Cage Touts Next Film Project 'Primal'," 18 June 2018 The comic dynamo Tiffany Haddish, as Dax’s mercenary ex-girlfriend, seems tame here. — Jay Longino, New York Times, "Review: In ‘Uncle Drew,’ N.B.A. Stars Keep Dunking With Age," 28 June 2018 Pop songwriters are necessarily mercenary, offering their services to the artist who will take them. — refinery29.com, "Read This & You’ll Never Hear “...Baby One More Time” The Same Way Again," 26 June 2018 Directed by Brian Pastor, the cast will be led by Scottie Caldwell as Raina Petkoff, a young woman who falls in love with a pacifistic mercenary soldier during the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War in spite of her being engaged to another man. — Kt Hawbaker, chicagotribune.com, "Full cast announced for City Lit's season opener, 'Arms and the Man'," 12 July 2018 That sounds mercenary, but the bigger reason is to clear the crime from the books with a conviction. — Stu Bykofsky, Philly.com, "Plea deal no bargain for cop killers | Stu Bykofsky," 25 June 2018 No one seemed to mind the addition of able mercenary JJ Redick for this season, which was about as pure a signing as $23 million can buy. — Bob Ford, Philly.com, "LeBron James and the quest for Process purity | Bob Ford," 17 May 2018 Pitt plays a mercenary named Vanisher who enlists in Deadpool's bedraggled team called X Force (like X-Men, but gender-nonspecific). — Rebecca Farley, refinery29.com, "Which Ocean's 11 Star Had The Better Superhero Movie Cameo?," 18 May 2018 And Woody Harrelson, as Han's mercenary mentor, is, well, Woody Harrelson, which is not a bad thing at all. — Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, "The breakout star in 'Solo' is L3-37, a female droid for our turbulent Time's Up era," 20 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mercenary.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.