Meaning

1 senses

  1. Motivated by personal gain.

    geldgierig, gewinnsüchtig, käuflich

    коры́стныйkorýstnyj, корыстолюби́выйkorystoljubívyj

More definitions
  • serving for wages in a foreign army
  • profit oriented
  • marked by materialism

Examples

51 sentences

  1. Tom was a mercenary.

    Том був найманцем. — deniko

    ruТом был наёмником. — marafon

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. Several civilians were gunned down by mercenaries.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. He hired mercenaries to kill you.

    Amastan · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. Yanni seriously considered to hire mercenaries.

    Amastan · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. Boris was one of the mercenaries.

    Amastan · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

7 languages
Русский
By meaning 1
motivated by personal gain:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
motivated by personal gain:

Origin

From Middle English mercenarye (“someone paid to work, hireling”), from Latin mercēnārius

From Middle English mercenarye (“someone paid to work, hireling”), from Latin mercēnārius (“hired for money”), from mercēs (“reward, wages, price”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

more mercenary, most mercenary
Comparativemore mercenary Lesson
Superlativemost mercenary Lesson

regular

Synonyms

9 synonyms
greedyA2venal
Close in meaning

Word family

7 related words
RelatedsoldierA2
Derivedantimercenarymercenarilymercenarinessmercenaryismnonmercenaryunmercenary

Lessons for this word

2 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
menuA2meowmerchandiseB2merchantB1
mercenary — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto