MERCIFUL Synonyms: 120 Similar and Opposite Words

merciful

adjective

Definition of merciful

as in patient

showing kindness and forgiveness instead of harshness or cruelty especially to someone under one's authority or control When our English teacher caught us cheating, we prayed he would be merciful in deciding our punishment.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of merciful As the sun began to peek over the hillside, offering a merciful burst of warmth, Alonso Abugattas called this year’s Trillium Trek to order. — Ashley Stimpson, Washington Post, 11 May 2026 Would a just and merciful God approve of what is happening? — Kenneth Seeskin, Chicago Tribune, 11 May 2026 Would Homelander be merciful and spare just this one? — Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 29 Apr. 2026 Ever since Jimmy Butler tore his ACL in January, the only reprieve from this slog of a campaign has been the promise of a swift, merciful end. — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 13 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for merciful

Recent Examples of Synonyms for merciful

Adjective

But the new study raises questions of whether delays in treatment from patient bottlenecks could negate those benefits.

— Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 13 Aug. 2026
Family offices are built to be patient with their portfolios, investing with generational wealth in mind.

— Hayley Cuccinello, CNBC, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of patient

Adjective

The idea is to encourage investment in infrastructure, but a particularly benevolent owner could pour in vast sums that could then be used on the squad.

— Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
The commissioners representing the Hawaiian Government have consented to leave to the future and to the just and benevolent purposes of the United States the adjustment of all such questions.

— Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of benevolent

Adjective

Healthcare needs talented, compassionate clinicians now more than ever.

— Jeff Giullian, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026
Social Security uses technology to scan disability applications for conditions on the compassionate allowances list, and those applications often receive approval within days, according to one law firm.

— Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of compassionate

Adjective

Jean is ultimately revealed to be a sympathetic character in search of her sister, Sara Grey (Olivia Booth-Ford), who has been captured by the government organization Damage Control in order to exploit her psychic powers.

— Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 12 Aug. 2026
And Aparna Nancherla warms up the ice-cold cast of characters as Matt and Jake’s sympathetic but powerless buddy in HR.

— Judy Berman, Time, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of sympathetic

Adjective

Say the kind thing, ask the real question, and let connection grow through simple effort instead of silent hoping today.

— Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 13 Aug. 2026
In these moments and others, HOTD has sometimes espoused a form of gender essentialism that suggests Rhaenyra and Alicent are both inherently kinder and better than the men around them.

— Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of kind

Adjective

Charlotte Stewart’s bold gambit was rewarded with a four-season run as the kindly schoolteacher Eva Beadle-Simms.

— Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Aug. 2026
Even the kindly Florida manatee, connoisseur of bayou seagrass, sometimes flies into a carnivorous rage, snapping up fish and gnashing them in its terrible teeth.

— David Merritt Johns, The Atlantic, 27 June 2026

Definition of kindly

Adjective

Regular use of a gentle, balanced cleaner will restore clarity to the surface and allow your floors’ natural beauty to shine through.

— Martha Stewart, Martha Stewart, 8 Aug. 2026
With an ecosystem as capricious as this, the local wildlife is born and bred to go with the flow—think gentle-but-giant humpback whales, colonies of industrious beavers, and torpedoing peregrine falcons, the fastest animals on Earth.

— Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of gentle

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mercies

merciful

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“Merciful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/merciful. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of merciful

adjective

Example Sentences

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