Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use mercy in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb, interjection

Mercy means relenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to another. Example: “She took mercy on him and quit embarrassing him.”

Examples of mercy by meaning

nounRelenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to another.

  • She took mercy on him and quit embarrassing him.

nounForgiveness or compassion, especially toward those less fortunate.

  • Have mercy on the poor and assist them if you can.

nounA tendency toward forgiveness, pity, or compassion.

  • Mercy is one of his many virtues.

nounA blessing; something to be thankful for.

  • It was a mercy that we were not inside when the roof collapsed

verbTo feel mercy.

  • In vogue, an age, we are interrupted typics of Universal errors; established adults of vaudeville Street shows — but not quite complete or made whole Neither pitied, nor mercied, nor eldered as one Full disguised and costumed.1965, Equinox: An Anthology of New Writing from the Philippines
  • Thus Jesus represents human nature in a third way — not as mercied outsiders like the Magi, nor as a judged insider like Herod.2004, Frederick Dale Bruner, Matthew: A Commentary - Volume 1, →ISBN, page 73
  • For Prevallet, as for Julian, God's love is a “mercying love” in which we are called to live.2016, Christine M. Bochen, The Way of Mercy, →ISBN

verbTo show mercy; to pardon or treat leniently because of mercy.

  • Remember that kid that kept yelling that his father was mercied?” “Mercied?” - “The kid that kept saying his father was killed?1963, John Brunner, Listen! The Stars!, page 46
  • Then why hasn't she mercied me all these years I've been begging for her pepper-soup on credit?1999, Chuma Nwokolo, African Tales at Jailpoint, page 86
  • Getting mercied sucks.2005, Randy Howe, Softball for Weekend Warriors, →ISBN

interjectionExpressing surprise or alarm.

  • Mercy! Look at the state of you!

More sentences with mercy

  • The court will show no mercy; if he gets convicted, it's the chair for him.From the entry chair
  • The ball game is scheduled for Saturday, but we're still at the mercy of the weather.From the entry at the mercy of
  • Have mercy! Did you see her walkin by? I'll be thinkin about that sight all night!From the entry have mercy
  • The city was at the mercy of the occupying forces.From the entry at
  • He fell to the floor and begged for mercy.From the entry fall
  • Puritan austerity was so tempered by Dutch indifference, that mercy itself could not have dictated a milder system.From the entry temper
  • Mercy me! Look at the state of you!From the entry mercy me
  • The debt for being alive, the debt for being loved is only repayable by mercy.2017, Francis, Pope, Merola, Guiseppe, With the Smell of the Sheep, →ISBN. From the entry repayable
  • Take advantage of the gift of today's new mercy that God offers you.2014, Dr. Gwendolyn Pettway, DCC, FRESH BEGINNINGS: The Breakthrough Devotional for Emotional Healing, Outskirts Press, →ISBN, page 12. From the entry bless oneself
  • Well, in the mercy of God we are normally unaware of our personal expiration date.2013, Harold F. Green, Prison Stories: Harold F. Green, →ISBN, page 119. From the entry expiration date
  • So you’re at their mercy on both ends, more or less.2011 [1974], Pierce Walker, quotee, edited by Studs Terkel, Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What…. From the entry more or less
  • “She looks like some Lord have mercy with some good googly woogly on top.”2008, Kim Robinson, The Roux in the Gumbo, page 173. From the entry ooh-wee
  • Generally happens only once per career (kinda like a mercy flush over a pressurized sanitary tank).1995 October 18, Doug Huffman, “Seawater in submarines”, in sci.military.naval (Usenet). From the entry mercy flush
  • His inflexibility and blindness ill become a leader, for a leader must temper justice with mercy.1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 541. From the entry ill
  • These vulcanized hearts, they only become more resistant when you ask for mercy.1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 404. From the entry vulcanize
  • May God have mercy on this dark hearted and wicked man, and save him from ruin.1975, R. S. Miller, Misi Gete: John Geddie pioneer missionary to the New Hebrides. From the entry dark hearted
  • This Thanksgivingtide recalls to our hearts the endless and undeserved mercies wherewith thou has blessed us.1967, James Archibald Jones, Prayers for the People: A Memorial Collection of Pulpit Prayers, John Knox Press, page 100. From the entry Thanksgivingtide
  • In China, this figure was transformed into a goddess of mercy, Kwan-Yin.1962, Niels C[hristian] Nielsen, Jr., “The Buddhists”, in The Layman Looks at World Religions, St. Louis, Mo.: The Bethany Press, →LCCN…. From the entry madonnalike
  • All right, darling, Mother's coming,” she fluted, and buzzed off on the errand of mercy.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC. From the entry flute
  • Then it is all doggery and devilry and there is no God and no mercy.1935, Frank Philpott Bacon, The Use of Spiritualism in the Drama, page 126. From the entry doggery
  • In mercy I put a bullet through his skull, and he fell sprawling among the aloes.1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC. From the entry aloe
  • In plainer speech: voters are grateful for small mercies.2023 August 8, Janan Ganesh, “The oneness of Ron DeSantis and Rishi Sunak”, in Financial Times. From the entry Overton window
  • Their aircraft had no belly gunners and were at the mercy of Luftwaffe fighters that attacked from below.2019 May 8, Aron Heller, “These Jewish World War II Veterans Would Be Legends, if People Knew Their Stories”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry sortie
  • Praise the Lord, His mercy is more.2016, Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, “His Mercy Is More”, in Church Songs. From the entry morn
  • Our sins, they are many; His mercy is more.2016, Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, “His Mercy Is More”, in Church Songs. From the entry morn
  • Philomena, may solicit thy mercy for us.2015, Anonymous, Aeterna Press, The Life and Miracles: Saint Philomena, Virgin and Martyr, Aeterna Press. From the entry virgin
  • Fortunately, God, in his infinite and redeeming mercy, had also sent down a tight-abbed, small-boned Chinese-Chicana woman to rescue the innocents.2011, David Brooks, The Social Animal: A Story of How Success Happens. From the entry abbed
  • The show's slogan says it all: "News without mercy."2011 January 20, James Poniewozik, “The Onion's New Fake News Show”, in Time, retrieved 04 Jun 2015. From the entry say it all
  • They left after they prayed for Almighty God's mercy.2009, Faruk Salman, Nazif Yılmaz, Dr. Recep Özdirek, My Beautiful Religion - 1 (Maliki), Erkam, page 36. From the entry repray

Meaning of mercy

  1. noun Relenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to another.
  2. noun Forgiveness or compassion, especially toward those less fortunate.
  3. noun A tendency toward forgiveness, pity, or compassion.

Full definition of mercy

Questions about mercy in a sentence

How do you use mercy in a sentence?
Mercy is used as a noun, verb and interjection. For example: “She took mercy on him and quit embarrassing him.”
What is a short sentence with mercy?
“Getting mercied sucks.”
What does mercy mean?
Mercy means relenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to another.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mercy (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use mercy in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/mercy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.