adj
merciful
MUR-sih-fl
adj
1
Showing mercy — willing to forgive or treat someone gently rather than punish them as harshly as possible.
"The judge was merciful and gave the young offender a suspended sentence."
"It was a merciful death after months of suffering."
How to Use Merciful
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishKind enough to forgive or ease someone's suffering rather than being harsh.
Common pairings
a merciful judge
merciful god
mercifully quick
Word Forms
more merciful comparative, most merciful superlative
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The judge was _____ and gave the young offender a suspended sentence.
Etymology
From Middle English merciful, built from mercy plus the suffix -ful; it replaced the older native English word mildheort.