mercenary

1 of 2

noun

mer·​ce·​nary ˈmər-sə-ˌner-ē 

-ne-rē

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

mercenary

2 of 2

adjective

1

: serving merely for pay or sordid advantage : venal

also : greedy

… they feel that they have been unfairly portrayed as somehow dishonest or mercenary in a highly competitive business with paper-thin profit margins.

—Randy Kennedy

2

: hired for service in the army of a foreign country

mercenarily

ˌmər-sə-ˈner-ə-lē 

-ˈne-rə-

adverb

mercenariness

ˈmər-sə-ˌner-ē-nəs 

-ˌne-rē-

noun

Synonyms of mercenary

Adjective

• greedy
• avaricious
• eager
• acquisitive

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

Moïse was killed July 7, 2021, when about two dozen foreign mercenaries, mostly from Colombia, attacked his home near Port-au-Prince. — David Fischer, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026

In a fight with yet more mercenaries, Reacher smacks a gun out of a guy’s hand using one of Philadelphia’s moving subway trains. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026

Adjective

While his associate scans microfiche, Reacher gives the first of many, many, many unnamed mercenary characters the ol’ Giles Corey special. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026

Its leader, Sergei Mironov, 73, once gained headlines by posing with a symbol of brutality — a sledgehammer given to him by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the late Wagner mercenary leader shortly before his failed 2023 mutiny. — ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Adjective

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

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1532, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for mercenary

• accessary
• adversary
• ancillary
• apiary
• arbitrary
• aviary
• axillary
• bacillary
• beriberi
• bestiary
• breviary
• budgetary

Kids 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 adjective

1

: serving only for the pay or reward

mercenary armies

mercenary soldier

2

: greedy for money

mercenary business owners