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
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
Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 29 May 2025
Season two of Peacemaker, his irreverent superhero series centered on the ignorant mercenary (John Cena) from The Suicide Squad, will follow the events of Superman.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 19 May 2025
Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 2 May 2025
The most advanced phone-hacking technology sold by mercenary firms requires no target interaction and leaves no indication that the device has been tampered with.
—Ronald J. Deibert, Foreign Affairs, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mercenary
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Noun
He is expected to send up to 150 mercenaries to Haiti over the summer and recently shipped a large cache of weapons to the country, two experts told the newspaper.
—Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 29 May 2025
Season two of Peacemaker, his irreverent superhero series centered on the ignorant mercenary (John Cena) from The Suicide Squad, will follow the events of Superman.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 19 May 2025
Adjective
Apple has detected mercenary spyware attacks on select iPhones and issued Threat Notifications to those affected, TechCrunch reports.
—Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 2 May 2025
The most advanced phone-hacking technology sold by mercenary firms requires no target interaction and leaves no indication that the device has been tampered with.
—Ronald J. Deibert, Foreign Affairs, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mercenary
Cite this Entry
“Mercenary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mercenary. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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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