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

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

Adjective

• acquisitive
• avaricious
• avid
• coveting
• covetous
• grabby
• grasping
• greedy
• moneygrubbing
• rapacious

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

Here, 288 Romanian mercenaries who surrendered to M23 are counted and sent back to Europe, a pathetic and dejected lot. —Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025

Colombian President Gustavo Petro is asking Haitians to forgive a group of Colombian mercenaries accused of being guns-for-hire in the still unsolved 2021 assassination of their president, Jovenel Moïse. —Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 24 Jan. 2025

Adjective

Statues honoring the late Wagner leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and top commander, Dmitry Utkin, were unveiled in CAR’s capital, Bangui, in December, a Telegram channel linked to the mercenary group reported. —Nimi Princewill, CNN, 18 Jan. 2025

This includes the aimless storyline of Jun-ho and the mercenary team sailing around trying to find the game island now that Gi-hun’s tracker died. —Paul Tassi, Forbes, 28 Dec. 2024

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

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