'Mercenary' definitions:
Definition of 'mercenary'
(from WordNet)
adjective
Marked by materialism [syn: materialistic, mercenary, worldly-minded]
adjective
Serving for wages in a foreign army; "mercenary killers" [syn: mercenary(a), free-lance(a), freelance(a)]
adjective
Profit oriented; "a commercial book"; "preached a mercantile and militant patriotism"- John Buchan; "a mercenary enterprise"; "a moneymaking business" [syn: mercantile, mercenary, moneymaking(a)]
noun
A person hired to fight for another country than their own [syn: mercenary, soldier of fortune]
Definition of 'Mercenary'
From: GCIDE
- Mercenary \Mer"ce*na*ry\, a. [OE. mercenarie, F. mercenaire, fr. L. mercenarius, fr. merces wages, reward. See Mercy.]
- 1. Acting for reward; serving for pay; paid; hired; hireling; venal; as, mercenary soldiers. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Hence: Moved primarily by considerations of pay or profit; greedy of gain; sordid; selfish. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- For God forbid I should my papers blot With mercenary lines, with servile pen. --Daniel. [1913 Webster]
- Syn: See Venal. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Mercenary'
From: GCIDE
- Mercenary \Mer"ce*na*ry\, n.; pl. Mercenaries. One who is hired; a hireling; especially, a soldier hired into foreign service. --Milman. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'mercenary'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- a hog for,
- acquisitive,
- adventurer,
- all-devouring,
- assistant,
- avaricious,
- avid,
- bottomless,
- bought,
- bribable,
- chartered,
- condottiere,
- corrupt,
- corruptible,
- coveting,
- covetous,
- devouring,
- drudge,
- employed,
- employee,
- esurient,
- free lance,
- girl Friday,
- gluttonous,
- gobbling,
- grabby,
- grasping,
- greedy,
- grub,
- grubber,
- gun,
- gunman,
- hack,
- hired,
- hired gun,
- hired hand,
- hired killer,
- hired man,
- hireling,
- hoggish,
- insatiable,
- insatiate,
- leased,
- let,
- limitless,
- man Friday,
- miserly,
- money-hungry,
- money-mad,
- myrmidon,
- omnivorous,
- on the take,
- overgreedy,
- paid,
- pensioner,
- piggish,
- predatory,
- professional killer,
- purchasable,
- quenchless,
- rapacious,
- ravening,
- ravenous,
- rented,
- right-hand man,
- slakeless,
- slavey,
- soldier of fortune,
- sordid,
- subleased,
- sublet,
- swinish,
- unappeasable,
- unappeased,
- unethical,
- unprincipled,
- unquenchable,
- unsated,
- unsatisfied,
- unscrupulous,
- unslakeable,
- unslaked,
- venal,
- voracious,
- worker