mercenary
Syllables: mer·ce·na·ry/ˈmɜː.sə.nə.ɹi/US/ˈmɝ.sə.ˌnɛɹ.i/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
mercenary noun: one motivated by gain, especially monetary.
Noun
mercenary (plural mercenaries)
- One motivated by gain, especially monetary.
- J. Argyrofylus, a mercenary Greek, who came to teach school in Italy, after the sacking of Constantinople by the Turks, used to maintain that Cicero understood neither Philosophy nor Greek1753, Alexander Pope, edited by William Warburton, The Works of Alexander Pope, Esq: Satires, &c, page 22
- Such a man emphatically deserves the name of fortune-hunter—a wretch as detestable in society, as destructive of domestic happiness! And if, when marriages are consummated on such plans, there be afterwards between the parties the least appearance of regard, and the common forms of decorum, it is...1811, William Giles, The guide to domestic happiness, 9th edition
- A person employed to fight in an armed conflict who is not a member of the state or military group for which they are fighting and whose primary motivation is private gain.
- He exhorts the emperor to revive the courage of his subjects by the example of manly virtue; to banish luxury from the court and from the camp; to substitute in the place of the Barbarian mercenaries, an army of men interested in the defence of their laws and of their property1781, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume 3
- If a mercenary died, that was one fewer man to pay. Mercenaries were an efficient way to run a military campaign especially in view of the employer's ability to hire and fire when and if the situation demanded2004, Matthew Trundle, Greek Mercenaries: From the Late Archaic Period to Alexander
- One hired to engage in a figurative battle, as a corporate takeover, a lawsuit, or a political campaign.
Adjective
mercenary (comparative more mercenary, superlative most mercenary)
- Motivated by personal gain.
- Success is never so interesting as struggle—not even to the successful, not even to the most mercenary forms of ambition.1932 July 16 (date written), Willa Cather, “Preface”, in The Song of the Lark, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company […], published February 1941, →OCLC, page v
mercenary meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
mercenary in Hindi
- person employed to fight
- भाड़े का सिपाही bhāṛe kā sipāhī, किराये का सैनिक kirāye kā sainik, भृत सैनिक bhŕt sainik
mercenary in Tamil
- கூலிப்படை
mercenary in Urdu
- person employed to fight
- کِراۓ کا سِپاہی kirā-ye kā sipāhī, اَجِیر سِپاہی ajīr sipāhī, اَجِیر ajīr, مُزْدُور muzdūr
mercenary in Bengali
- person employed to fight
- ভাড়াটে সৈনিক bhaṛaṭe śōinik
More languagesFewer languages
- mercenary in Malayalam
- ലാഭേച്ഛയുളള, സ്വാർത്ഥപരമായ, കൂലിക്ക് പ്രവർത്തിക്കുന്ന, കൂലിപ്പടയാളി
- mercenary in Kannada
- ಕೂಲಿಪಡೆಯಾಳು, ಕೂಲಿ ಕೆಲಸಗಾರ, ಕೂಲಿಸೈನಿಕ, ಸಂಬಳದ ಸಿಪಾಯಿ
- mercenary in Sanskrit
- भट bhaṭa
- mercenary in Pashto
- اجير ajir, مزدور mazdúr, کرايي عسکر krāyí 'askar, اجيره عسکر ajira 'askar
- mercenary in Arabic
- مُرْتَزِق murtaziq, مُؤْجِر muʔjir
- mercenary in Malay
- askar upahan, tentera upahan
- mercenary in Indonesian
- tentara bayaran
- mercenary in Thai
- ทหารรับจ้าง tá-hǎan-ráp-jâang, ผู้รับจ้างรบ pûu-ráp-jâang-róp
- mercenary in Vietnamese
- lính đánh thuê, tay sai
- mercenary in Myanmar
- ကြေးစား kre:ca:
Examples of mercenary in a sentence
- The mercenaries plundered all the goods they found.
- The mercenaries plundered the small town.
- The mercenary tactics of some fans no doubt fuel this fantagonism.
Synonyms of mercenary
6 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of mercenary
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | mercenaries |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more mercenary |
| superlative | most mercenary |
Origin of mercenary
From Middle English mercenarye (“someone paid to work, hireling”), from Latin mercēnārius (“hired for money”), from mercēs (“reward, wages, price”).
Words formed from mercenary
Questions about mercenary
- What does mercenary mean?
- Mercenary means one motivated by gain, especially monetary.
- What is mercenary in Hindi?
- Mercenary in Hindi is भाड़े का सिपाही (bhāṛe kā sipāhī), किराये का सैनिक (kirāye kā sainik), भृत सैनिक (bhŕt sainik). See Mercenary meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is mercenary?
- Mercenary can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce mercenary?
- Mercenary is pronounced /ˈmɜː.sə.nə.ɹi/ (UK).
- What is the plural of mercenary?
- The plural of mercenary is mercenaries.
Words near mercenary in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: mercenary (page history and authors); mercenary (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); mercenary (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); mercenary (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); भट (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-mercenary.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Simplificationalizer-mercenary.wav.
Cite this entry: “mercenary.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mercenary. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.