mercenary

noun

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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

Other Words from mercenary Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More About mercenary

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 The film follows a freelance assassin, codenamed Banshee (King), who is ambushed by Anthony Greene (Flanagan), a powerful mercenary who killed her father and who is now seeking to collect a bounty on Caleb (Banderas), her former black ops mentor. — Brent Lang, Variety, 24 Sep. 2021 As time goes by, you’re now seen as a traitor and mercenary. — Jack Kelly, Forbes, 6 Oct. 2021 Chris Hemsworth stars as a mercenary in this action film. — Edward Segarra, USA TODAY, 5 Aug. 2021 The prisoners awaiting execution included a German mercenary. — Longreads, Longreads, 2 Nov. 2021 Bond’s emotional reeducation includes racial solidarity with Jeffrey Wright’s black mercenary Felix Leiter. — Armond White, National Review, 8 Oct. 2021 The budding action extravaganza franchise follows Tyler Rake, a mercenary with emotional and physical scars. — Derek Lawrence, EW.com, 25 Sep. 2021 His unelectable Republican opponent is Curtis Sliwa, a street mercenary and former mob kidnap victim who lives with either 16 or 17 cats. — Choire Sicha, Curbed, 21 Sep. 2021 Lucifer eventually breaks through to find the mercenary, with his gun to Rory's head. — Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 12 Sep. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective It’s been months since humanity’s military forces basically lost control of Zeta Halo to the Banished, a mercenary group that split off from the alien Covenant Empire, and Master Chief is tasked with rallying the remaining human forces on the map. — Washington Post, 19 Nov. 2021 But there are also exceptions: the sequels that exist for more than (purely) mercenary reasons, the ones that complete or continue a story’s arc and emerge from an artist’s cohesive, expansive vision. — Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2021 Temuera Morrison will reprise his role as the title character, while Ming-Na Wen will return as the mercenary Fennec Shand. — Jacob Siegal, BGR, 1 Nov. 2021 Ukraine is now apparently angry with the U.S. over a Russian mercenary group known as The Wagner Group. — Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2021 On the more temperate end, men like Deneen and Hazony espouse dismissive accounts of how liberal elites’ deepest relationships—with their spouses, their parents, their offspring—are mercenary and free of real love and loyalty. — Laura Field, The New Republic, 26 Oct. 2021 The Many Saints of Newark justifies this warped culture as well as its mercenary politics, starting with a title that explicitly relates it to warped Catholicism. — Armond White, National Review, 6 Oct. 2021 And then, not to be mercenary, there is the insurance. — Beverly Friend, sun-sentinel.com, 6 Oct. 2021 So does Haugen’s own personal experience as an integrity worker pushing against the more mercenary impulses of Facebook leadership. — Gilad Edelman, Wired, 5 Oct. 2021

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.