- influenced by greed or desire for gain
- of or relating to a mercenary or mercenaries
- a person hired to fight for a foreign army, etc
- rare any person who works solely for pay
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
mer•ce•nar•y /ˈmɜrsəˌnɛri/USA pronunciation
adj., n., pl. -nar•ies.
adj.
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026adj.
- working for money and not for ideals:She'd become mercenary and no longer cared about the underprivileged.
- hired to serve in a foreign army:mercenary forces.
n. [countable]
- Militarya professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army:The mercenaries decided to surrender.
mer•ce•nar•y
(mûr′sə ner′ē),USA pronunciation adj., n., pl. -nar•ies.
adj.
n.
mer•ce•nar•i•ly
(mûr′sə nâr′ə lē, mûr′sə ner′-),USA pronunciation adv.
mer′ce•nar′i•ness, n.
adj.
- working or acting merely for money or other reward; venal.
- hired to serve in a foreign army, guerrilla organization, etc.
n.
- Militarya professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army.
- any hireling.
- Latin mercēnnārius working for pay, hired worker, mercenary, perh., representing earlier *mercēd(i)nārius, equivalent. to *mercēdin-, stem of *mercēdō, a by-form of mercēs, stem mercēd- payment, wage (akin to merx goods; compare merchant) + -ārius -ary
- Middle English mercenarie 1350–1400
- 1. grasping, acquisitive, avaricious, covetous.
- 1. altruistic, idealistic, unselfish.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
mercenary /ˈmɜːsɪnərɪ; -sɪnrɪ/ adj
'mercenary' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
condottiere
- freelance
- Hessian
- soldier of fortune
- venal
- corrupt
- free companion
- free lance
- hack
- Haiduk
- hired gun
- hireling
- huckster
- ladrone
- landsknecht
- larceny
- merc
- niggardly
- ninja
- vendible
- sordid