merciful
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- mercifully adverb
- mercifulness noun
- overmerciful adjective
- overmercifully adverb
- overmercifulness noun
Etymology
Origin of merciful
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The end arrived in the sixth round, Joshua knocking Paul to the floor and Young waving the farce to a merciful conclusion.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 20, 2025
"I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of the reviewers. I was hoping that maybe somebody might like it well enough to give me some encouragement about it."
From BBC • Oct. 20, 2025
The ash that fell on us for days was but a physical reminder, a merciful one at that, of the destruction just up the road from us.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 17, 2025
But it takes even more courage to be merciful to people who do not deserve it.
From Salon • Dec. 18, 2024
Be not merciful unto them that offend of malicious wickedness.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
