merciful

  • 1Merciful — Mer ci*ful, a. [Mercy + ful.] 1. Full of mercy; having or exercising mercy; disposed to pity and spare offenders; unwilling to punish. Opposite of {merciless}. [1913 Webster] The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious. Ex. xxxiv. 6. [1913… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2merciful — index benevolent, charitable (lenient), humane, lenient, placable, propitious, sensitive (easily …

    Law dictionary

  • 3merciful — mid 14c.; see MERCY (Cf. mercy) + FUL (Cf. ful). Related: Mercifully …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4merciful — clement, *forbearing, tolerant, lenient, indulgent Analogous words: compassionate, *tender: benignant, benign, *kind, kindly: forgiving, pardoning, condoning (see EXCUSE vb) Antonyms: merciless Contrasted words: *grim, implacable, relentless,… …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 5merciful — [adj] kind, sparing all heart*, beneficent, benign, benignant, bleeding heart*, charitable, clement, compassionate, condoning, easygoing, feeling, forbearing, forgiving, generous, gentle, gracious, heart in right place*, humane, humanitarian,… …

    New thesaurus

  • 6merciful — ► ADJECTIVE 1) showing mercy. 2) giving relief from suffering …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7merciful — [mʉr′si fəl] adj. full of mercy; having, feeling, or showing mercy; compassionate; lenient; clement mercifully adv. mercifulness n …

    English World dictionary

  • 8merciful — adj. 1) merciful to 2) merciful to + inf. (it was merciful of her to offer help) * * * [ mɜːsɪf(ə)l] merciful to merciful to + inf. (it was merciful of her to offer help) …

    Combinatory dictionary

  • 9merciful — [[t]mɜ͟ː(r)sɪfʊl[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED If you describe God or a person in a position of authority as merciful, you mean that they show kindness and forgiveness to people. ...a merciful God... We can only hope the court is merciful. 2) ADJ GRADED If… …

    English dictionary

  • 10merciful — mer|ci|ful [ˈmə:sıfəl US ˈmə:r ] adj 1.) merciful death/end/release a death or end to something that seems fortunate because it ends someone s suffering ▪ I think my uncle s death was a merciful release for my poor aunt. 2.) being kind to people… …

    Dictionary of contemporary English