noun A soldier who fights for pay rather than out of loyalty to a country or cause.
- The warlord's army was made up largely of foreign mercenaries.
- The king hired mercenaries from overseas because his own army was too small.
- In the novel, a tired mercenary agrees to guard the caravan for gold.
noun Someone motivated chiefly by money or personal profit.
- Critics called the lawyer a mercenary, chasing the biggest payout rather than justice.
- He was a mercenary who took any job that paid well, whatever it was.
- Nobody trusted the new manager, a mercenary who cared only about his bonus.
adj Motivated purely by money or personal gain.
- His mercenary approach to friendship put a lot of people off.
- Her mercenary attitude meant she only helped people who could pay her back.
- The coach was disappointed by the player's mercenary decision to join the richest team.
