mercenary
working or acting merely for money or other reward; venal.
hired to serve in a foreign army, guerrilla organization, etc.
a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army.
any hireling.
Origin of mercenary
1Other words for mercenary
Opposites for mercenary
Other words from mercenary
- mer·ce·nar·i·ly [mur-suh-nair-uh-lee, mur-suh-ner-], /ˌmɜr səˈnɛər ə li, ˈmɜr səˌnɛr-/, adverb
- mer·ce·nar·i·ness, noun
- non·mer·cen·ar·y, adjective, noun, plural non·mer·cen·ar·ies.
- un·mer·ce·nar·i·ly, adverb
- un·mer·ce·nar·i·ness, noun
- un·mer·ce·nar·y, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use mercenary in a sentence
Many mercenaries slaughtered their way to power, casually betraying even close family to secure their fortunes.
Simultaneously, a brigade of mercenaries and Congolese soldiers would seal off the city and expel the guerrillas.
‘Argo’ in the Congo: The Ghosts of the Stanleyville Hostage Crisis | Nina Strochlic | November 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe left, but many other mercenaries stayed, and two years later they were executed or expelled after a mutiny in Stanleyville.
‘Argo’ in the Congo: The Ghosts of the Stanleyville Hostage Crisis | Nina Strochlic | November 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOthers contend that Greek mercenaries who came to India with Alexander the Great left their genetic mark in Coorg.
But Russian mercenaries and other troops wound up seizing power in the Ukrainian province of Crimea anyway.
Ex- CIA Chief: Why We Keep Getting Putin Wrong | Eli Lake, Noah Shachtman, Christopher Dickey | March 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The finances of the country are being taxed to the utmost to find the extra "palm-oil" which these mercenaries demand.
Such is the usual reward of mercenaries who hire themselves out as the supporters of foreign revolutionary governments.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. | E. Farr and E. H. NolanThese were mercenaries and not to be depended on, and the burghers themselves were not so hardy as of old.
Belgium | George W. T. (George William Thomson) OmondBut they could not command the fidelity of their mercenaries, and the Saxon peril only grew greater.
Mercenaries, chiefly the northern inhabitants of Russia and of Greece.
The Sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and of Harald The Tyrant (Harald Haardraade) | Snorri Sturluson
British Dictionary definitions for mercenary
/ (ˈmɜːsɪnərɪ, -sɪnrɪ) /
influenced by greed or desire for gain
of or relating to a mercenary or mercenaries
a man hired to fight for a foreign army, etc
rare any person who works solely for pay
Origin of mercenary
1Derived forms of mercenary
- mercenarily, adverb
- mercenariness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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