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   mer·ce·nar·y

   /ˈmərsənˌerē/

   adjective

   • 1. primarily concerned with making money at the expense of ethics: "the crime was committed out of mercenary motives" Similar money-orientedgraspinggreedyacquisitiveavariciouscovetousrapaciousbribablevenalmaterialisticinformal:money-grubbingOpposite altruisticphilanthropic

   noun

   • 1. a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army: "he had planned to seize power with the aid of a group of mercenaries"
   • ▪ a person primarily concerned with material reward at the expense of ethics: "the sport's most infamous mercenary"

   Word Origin late Middle English (as a noun): from Latin mercenarius ‘hireling’, from merces, merced- ‘reward’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. mercenariness noun

   Scrabble Points: 16

   • M

     3

   • E

     1

   • R

     1

   • C

     3

   • E

     1

   • N

     1

   • A

     1

   • R

     1

   • Y

     4

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