merciful
adjective
Simple meaning
Showing or giving mercy.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mursihfuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmɝsɪfəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Showing or giving mercy
“Sought merciful treatment for the captives.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
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More ways to use merciful
- “Sought merciful treatment for the captives.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Having or showing no mercy.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: showing or giving mercy
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.