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
B. F. Reilly 2
: hired for service in the army of a foreign country
Synonyms
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 WebDennis Perkins, EW.com, 5 Apr. 2024
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, the new movie Roadhouse is an adrenaline-stoking film set in Florida in the 1980’s that stars none other than professional boxer Conor McGregor as Knox, playing a mercenary for hire.
—Roberta Naas, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
That account squares with Mexican military intelligence records reviewed by The Times that document foreign mercenaries, drone warfare and improvised land mines in the Tierra Caliente.
—Keegan Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2024
The realistic alternative to maintaining ties to a military regime in Africa may be watching as murderous Russian mercenaries fill the void.
—Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
Frustrations with the way the war was being fought provoked an armed uprising in which gun-toting Wagner mercenaries marched on Moscow, posing an unprecedented challenge to the Kremlin’s authority.
—Matthew Chance, CNN, 24 Feb. 2024
The man was from Colombia, the rancher said, part of a growing number of mercenaries who experts say have brought bomb-making technology to rural Mexico.
—Keegan Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2024
His killing was orchestrated by a group of foreign mercenaries, mostly Colombians and a few Haitian Americans, according to charges brought by the U.S. Justice Department.
—Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 5 Mar. 2024
President Moïse was killed in July of 2021 when 28 foreign mercenaries, majority of whom were Colombian, raided his Port-au-Prince home.
—Rayna Reid Rayford, Essence, 22 Feb. 2024
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 16 Feb. 2024
In Burkina Faso, Russia has in recent months deployed a few hundred troops from Africa Corps — which is described by Russian officials as the successor to the Wagner mercenary group — while about 1,000 Russian military personnel are estimated to be fighting with the Malian army.
—Rachel Pannett, Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2024
By 2024, that number had declined to 266,000, almost certainly as a result of recruiting by the Russian military and by private mercenary companies such as Wagner.
—Dara Massicot, Foreign Affairs, 8 Mar. 2024
Experts blame their rise in part on an influx into Mexico of mercenary fighters from Colombia, where explosives played a central role in a long-running war between leftist guerrilla groups and far-right paramilitaries.
—Keegan Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2024
Among the most illustrious were men who might be called mercenary warlords, whose taste for books assuaged (or disguised) the brutality of their profession.
—Claudia Roth Pierpont, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024
In Burkina Faso, more than 100 Russian soldiers with Africa Corps -- headed by Yevkurov and described by Russian officials as the successor group to the Wagner mercenary group -- have arrived in the past two months.
—Rachel Chason and Michael Birnbaum The Washington Post, arkansasonline.com, 26 Feb. 2024
In Burkina Faso, more than 100 Russian soldiers with Africa Corps — headed by Yevkurov and described by Russian officials as the successor group to the Wagner mercenary group — have arrived in the past two months.
—Michael Birnbaum, Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2024
So there was a mercenary quality to my own interest.
—David Marchese Photo Illustration By Bráulio Amado, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2024
Noun
De Niro plays a mercenary recruited to an international team by a mysterious Irish woman (Natascha McElhone) to track down and retrieve a specific metal attache case.
—Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 5 Apr. 2024
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, the new movie Roadhouse is an adrenaline-stoking film set in Florida in the 1980’s that stars none other than professional boxer Conor McGregor as Knox, playing a mercenary for hire.
—Roberta Naas, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
That account squares with Mexican military intelligence records reviewed by The Times that document foreign mercenaries, drone warfare and improvised land mines in the Tierra Caliente.
—Keegan Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2024
The realistic alternative to maintaining ties to a military regime in Africa may be watching as murderous Russian mercenaries fill the void.
—Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
Frustrations with the way the war was being fought provoked an armed uprising in which gun-toting Wagner mercenaries marched on Moscow, posing an unprecedented challenge to the Kremlin’s authority.
—Matthew Chance, CNN, 24 Feb. 2024
The man was from Colombia, the rancher said, part of a growing number of mercenaries who experts say have brought bomb-making technology to rural Mexico.
—Keegan Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2024
His killing was orchestrated by a group of foreign mercenaries, mostly Colombians and a few Haitian Americans, according to charges brought by the U.S. Justice Department.
—Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 5 Mar. 2024
President Moïse was killed in July of 2021 when 28 foreign mercenaries, majority of whom were Colombian, raided his Port-au-Prince home.
—Rayna Reid Rayford, Essence, 22 Feb. 2024
Adjective
And most recently Yevgeny Prigozhin - former confidante who died with much of his Wagner mercenary elite in a suspicious plane crash last year.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 16 Feb. 2024
In Burkina Faso, Russia has in recent months deployed a few hundred troops from Africa Corps — which is described by Russian officials as the successor to the Wagner mercenary group — while about 1,000 Russian military personnel are estimated to be fighting with the Malian army.
—Rachel Pannett, Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2024
By 2024, that number had declined to 266,000, almost certainly as a result of recruiting by the Russian military and by private mercenary companies such as Wagner.
—Dara Massicot, Foreign Affairs, 8 Mar. 2024
Experts blame their rise in part on an influx into Mexico of mercenary fighters from Colombia, where explosives played a central role in a long-running war between leftist guerrilla groups and far-right paramilitaries.
—Keegan Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2024
Among the most illustrious were men who might be called mercenary warlords, whose taste for books assuaged (or disguised) the brutality of their profession.
—Claudia Roth Pierpont, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024
In Burkina Faso, more than 100 Russian soldiers with Africa Corps -- headed by Yevkurov and described by Russian officials as the successor group to the Wagner mercenary group -- have arrived in the past two months.
—Rachel Chason and Michael Birnbaum The Washington Post, arkansasonline.com, 26 Feb. 2024
In Burkina Faso, more than 100 Russian soldiers with Africa Corps — headed by Yevkurov and described by Russian officials as the successor group to the Wagner mercenary group — have arrived in the past two months.
—Michael Birnbaum, Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2024
So there was a mercenary quality to my own interest.
—David Marchese Photo Illustration By Bráulio Amado, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mercenary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near mercenary
Cite this Entry
“Mercenary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mercenary. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids 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 adjective1
: serving only for the pay or reward
mercenary armies
mercenary soldier
2
: greedy for money
mercenary business owners
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