as in greedy
having or marked by an eager and often selfish desire especially for material possessions
they were a mercenary couple, who defined themselves not by what they were but by what they owned
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mercenary
Along the way, Captain America battles villains like Giancarlo Esposito's mercenary killer Sidewinder and Samuel Sterns, a role Tim Blake Nelson reprises for the first time since 2008's The Incredible Hulk.
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Tommy McArdle, People.com, 12 Feb. 2025
In September 2024, Maduro announced the arrest of five Americans during a crackdown launched by Venezuela’s socialist regime to dismantle what the government claims is a mercenary force assembled by the CIA and Spain’s intelligence service to topple Maduro.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 1 Feb. 2025
The conference — which draws child abuse pediatricians, social workers, police and prosecutors — featured multiple presentations that cast doctors who testify for the defense as both ill-informed and mercenary.
—Pamela Colloff, ProPublica, 29 Dec. 2024
The conference — which draws child-abuse pediatricians, social workers, police officers and prosecutors — featured multiple presentations that cast doctors who testify for the defense as both ill informed and mercenary.
—Kirsten Potter Krish Seenivasan David Mason, New York Times, 29 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for mercenary
Tommy McArdle, People.com, 12 Feb. 2025
In September 2024, Maduro announced the arrest of five Americans during a crackdown launched by Venezuela’s socialist regime to dismantle what the government claims is a mercenary force assembled by the CIA and Spain’s intelligence service to topple Maduro.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 1 Feb. 2025
The conference — which draws child abuse pediatricians, social workers, police and prosecutors — featured multiple presentations that cast doctors who testify for the defense as both ill-informed and mercenary.
—Pamela Colloff, ProPublica, 29 Dec. 2024
The conference — which draws child-abuse pediatricians, social workers, police officers and prosecutors — featured multiple presentations that cast doctors who testify for the defense as both ill informed and mercenary.
—Kirsten Potter Krish Seenivasan David Mason, New York Times, 29 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for mercenary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mercenary
Adjective
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When Sue becomes greedy with her time, exceeding seven days on the outside, Elisabeth suffers the consequences, and things take a dark and twisted turn.—
Samantha Stutsman,
People.com,
3 Mar. 2025
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Forget the greedy streamers: leave the job of filmmaking to people who care, to people like Corbet and Eisenberg, Fargeat and Zilbalodis.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
TIME,
3 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Still, companies are eager to force folding screens into more types of devices, with the tech already expanding from phones to PCs and monitors.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
6 Mar. 2025
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Businesses weren’t hiring as much, folks weren’t as eager to quit and those without jobs were staying on the sidelines for longer.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN,
6 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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This nation state, my home, is built on a quagmire of lies sold to the young as truths; sold to the insecure as truths; sold by the avaricious, the power-hungry, the conceited, the overwhelmingly white and male.—
Christine Winter,
Artforum,
1 Mar. 2025
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Pearce plays Van Buren as hungry and avaricious even in his kinder moments, a man of immense wealth whose primary desire is to own more and more.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
10 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Wiseman’s documentaries won’t ever earn blockbuster money or inspire franchises, the mark of success in the film world, and there’s no merch to purchase or brand sponsorship tickling the acquisitive part of your brain.—
Alissa Wilkinson,
New York Times,
8 Feb. 2025
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Meanwhile, Federation rivals ITV Studios and Fremantle are both rumored to be on the block, while Banijay remains acquisitive and newer players like North Road are part of this evolving conversation.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
29 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mercenary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mercenary. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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