as in patient
showing kindness and forgiveness instead of harshness or cruelty especially to someone under one's authority or control
When our English teacher caught us cheating, we prayed he would be merciful in deciding our punishment.
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Recent Examples of merciful
The New York Giants’ season will come to a merciful end Sunday with a matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
—
Dan Duggan, The Athletic, 2 Jan. 2025
The former cannot escape his past, carrying the burden of memory; the latter, touched by the merciful hand of fate, has freed himself from that weight.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 23 Aug. 2024
The miserable 2024-25 New York Giants season came to a merciful end with a 20-13 loss to the division rival Philadelphia Eagles.
—Charlotte Carroll, The Athletic, 5 Jan. 2025
That, however, was the merciful end to the Flyers’ comeback bid as the B’s somehow survived the onslaught for the win.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 16 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for merciful
Dan Duggan, The Athletic, 2 Jan. 2025
The former cannot escape his past, carrying the burden of memory; the latter, touched by the merciful hand of fate, has freed himself from that weight.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 23 Aug. 2024
The miserable 2024-25 New York Giants season came to a merciful end with a 20-13 loss to the division rival Philadelphia Eagles.
—Charlotte Carroll, The Athletic, 5 Jan. 2025
That, however, was the merciful end to the Flyers’ comeback bid as the B’s somehow survived the onslaught for the win.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 16 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for merciful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for merciful
Adjective
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Its website has a searchable database of patient assistance programs, discount drug cards, and other cost-saving resources.—
Robert Burakoff,
Health,
4 Apr. 2025
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The average patient debt being retired is $1,100, according to Undue Medical Debt, with some reaching the hundreds of thousands of dollars.—
Noam Levey,
NPR,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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But land reform is so fundamental to how the current government took power that no citizen may portray it as anything other than a benevolent campaign that brought fairness and prosperity to China’s long-suffering farmers.—
Ian Johnson,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2025
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Analyzing the legendary unicorn tapestries hanging at the Met Cloisters in New York (augmented here by a gory new panel that depicts the suddenly fearsome animals disemboweling and impaling their aggressors), Ridley concludes that unicorns aren’t nearly as benevolent as most people think.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
9 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Also there is having to balance being compassionate and caring while also remembering that this is a business.—
J.M. Banks,
Kansas City Star,
9 Apr. 2025
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But White and Jonas haven’t built an anxious or a particularly compassionate Jamie.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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And this is clearly a policy that pisses off a lot of the business community, which Trump has been very sympathetic to, and which has rewarded him with a lot of support, especially the second time around.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2025
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It’s also been suggested that extremist can use AI to work out who is susceptible to radicalization in the first place by predicting who is likely to be sympathetic to their ideology.—
Bernard Marr,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Clara’s Table restaurant is Dearborn Inn’s tribute to Henry Ford’s wife, Clara, a passionate horticulturist and gracious hostess.—
Devorah Lev-Tov,
AFAR Media,
9 Apr. 2025
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The press conference had a very gracious tone on the U.S. relationship.—
Brendan Ahern,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The long gap between seasons has not been kind to the show, which returned way down in the ratings this past fall.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
2 Apr. 2025
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Holly Marie Combs has nothing but kind words for the young Pretty Little Liars cast — and a couple of digs at her twentysomething self.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
31 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The cast includes Stephen Merchant as the voice of the mouse, Kristen Wiig as a scenery-chewing evil aunt, and Jim Broadbent as a kindly but clueless king.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
20 Dec. 2024
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In his fourth feature, director Hsiao Ya-Chuan follows the unsentimental education of a motherless 11-year-old boy, Liao Jie (Bai Run-yin), raised in poverty by his kindly father, Liao Tai-lai (Liu Kuan-Ting), a waiter at a busy banqueting hall.—
Alissa Simon,
Variety,
25 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Momoa opted for softer style, wearing a suit in a gentle pink tone.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
10 Apr. 2025
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His video shows his grandmother and her dog, Gucci, through their daily moments together—gentle walks with the pup trotting along in a pink sweater; cuddles on the couch; and play.—
Raja Krishnamoorthi,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Merciful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/merciful. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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