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
• eager
• avaricious
• 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

In addition to Momoa as the antihero Lobo, an alien mercenary and bounty hunter from the utopian planet Czarnia, the movie also stars Eve Ridley as Ruthye Mary Knolle and Matthias Schoenaerts as Krem. —Glenn Garner, Deadline, 11 June 2026

For fleeing the likes of active war zones and relentless mercenaries hot on your tracks (and, of course, living to tell the tale), Mammoth bulletproofs all the windows and protects them from closer blunt force – or hot-firing shrapnel – with MOLLE-style blast shields. —New Atlas, 9 June 2026

Adjective

At the center is Russia’s Africa Corps, formerly Wagner Group — a mercenary network that has propped up President Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s government since 2018. —Yinka Adegoke, semafor.com, 12 June 2026

But even measured in the most mercenary terms, using Medi-Cal funds to get Flores mental health care is a good investment. —Megan Greenwell, Bloomberg, 9 June 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