mercenary

noun mer·ce·nary \ ˈmər-sə-ˌner-ē , -ne-rē \

|Updated on: 9 Jul 2018

Examples: mercenary in a Sentence

Definition of mercenary

plural mercenaries

: one that serves merely for wages; especially : a soldier hired into foreign service

mercenaries who guaranteed the success of the rebellion
—B. F. Reilly

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Examples of mercenary in a Sentence

an army of foreign mercenaries

Recent Examples of mercenary from the Web

The second political consideration for oil and gas companies is even more mercenary.

— david roberts, Vox, "Big oil and Bush-era lobbyists are teaming up to support a carbon tax," 22 June 2018
And if that works somewhat fitfully, the sequel delivers consistently enough to keep this colorful mercenary laughing all the way to the bank.

— brian lowry, CNN, "'Deadpool 2' gleefully revels in R-rated mayhem," 14 May 2018
Russia has about 2,000 official troops in Syria — slightly fewer than the U.S. does — as well as numerous civilian contractors and unofficial mercenaries fighting on behalf of Assad, who is a Russian ally.

— david lauter, latimes.com, "Washington holds its breath, waiting for Trump to fire: What? Or whom?," 13 Apr. 2018
After a brief spell at Hull, then appearing to try and angle a move away to Watford, Silva has from some quarters gained a reputation as a managerial mercenary.

— SI.com, "Marco Silva Assures Everton Fans He Wants to Make Toffees 'Stable' After Short-Lived Watford Spell," 5 June 2018
First, her complicated backstory functionally severs her connections to her past, freeing her up to be defined as a mercenary — or, at best, as a teammate — whose motivations can be entirely situational.

— chris sims, The Verge, "Domino deserves a spinoff film, and there are amazing comic stories to mine," 24 May 2018
The rights groups say the Gambian unit saw the migrants as suspected mercenaries.

— Fox News, "Rights groups seek prosecution of Gambian ex-leader in Ghana," 16 May 2018
Dr Davies and his colleagues were there because, to bolster Colombia’s still-small regular army of pertinent experts, the country’s government has recruited several groups of foreign mercenaries.

— The Economist, "Colombia’s national survey of its biodiversity is ambitious," 17 May 2018
Sandford has been working on Lucas for more than two dozen books, and by now Lucas can handle just about anything, including a group of bad-apple mercenaries.

— marilyn stasio, New York Times, "A Politician With Real Killer Instincts," 4 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.

Origin and Etymology of mercenary

Middle English, from Latin mercenarius, irregular from merced-, merces wages — more at mercy

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First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined above

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Other Military Terms

bivouac, logistics, petard, salient, sally, supernumerary, tactical

mercenary

adjective

Definition of mercenary

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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mercenarily

play \ˌmər-sə-ˈner-ə-lē, -ˈne-rə-\ adverb

—

mercenariness

play \ˈmər-sə-ˌner-ē-nəs, -ˌne-rē-\ noun

See mercenary defined for English-language learners

Examples of mercenary in a Sentence

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