merciful

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Related to merciful: Pure in Heart

mer·ci·ful

(mûr′sĭ-fəl)

adj.

Full of mercy; compassionate: sought merciful treatment for the captives.

mer′ci·ful·ly adv.

mer′ci·ful·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

merciful

(ˈmɜːsɪfʊl)

adj

showing or giving mercy; compassionate

ˈmercifulness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mer•ci•ful

(ˈmɜr sɪ fəl)

adj.

full of mercy; characterized by or exercising mercy.

[1250–1300]

mer′ci•ful•ly, adv.

mer′ci•ful•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	merciful - showing or giving mercy; "sought merciful treatment for the captives"; "a merciful god" clement - (used of persons or behavior) inclined to show mercy; "a more clement judge reduced the sentence" compassionate - showing or having compassion; "heard the soft and compassionate voices of women" soft - compassionate and kind; conciliatory; "he was soft on his children" humane - marked or motivated by concern with the alleviation of suffering kind - having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior; "kind to sick patients"; "a kind master"; "kind words showing understanding and sympathy"; "thanked her for her kind letter" merciless, unmerciful - having or showing no mercy; "the merciless enemy"; "a merciless critic"; "gave him a merciless beating"
	2.	merciful - (used conventionally of royalty and high nobility) gracious; "our merciful king" gracious - characterized by charm, good taste, and generosity of spirit; "gracious even to unexpected visitors"; "gracious living"; "he bears insult with gracious good humor"

merciful

adjective

1. compassionate, forgiving, sympathetic, kind, liberal, soft, sparing, generous, mild, pitying, humane, clement, gracious, lenient, beneficent, forbearing, tender-hearted, benignant We can only hope the court is merciful.
compassionate cruel, merciless, inhumane, pitiless, unfeeling, hard-hearted, uncompassionate

2. welcome, desired, blessed Eventually the session came to a merciful end.

be merciful to show mercy to, spare, forgive, pardon, let off, go easy on (informal), have mercy on, have pity on, be lenient with He had always been more merciful to girls than to boys.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

merciful

adjective

1. Concerned with human welfare and the alleviation of suffering:

charitable, compassionate, human, humane, humanitarian.

2. Not strict or severe:

charitable, clement, easy, forbearing, indulgent, lax, lenient, soft, tolerant.

Translations

رحيمرَحيم، رَؤوف

milosrdný

barmhjertig

gnädig barmherzig

miséricordieux

miskunnsamur

clemente misericordioso

милосердный

milosten

merhametli

仁慈的宽恕的

merciful

[ˈmɜːsɪfʊl] ADJ

1. (= compassionate) [god] → misericordioso, clemente, compasivo; [person] → clemente, compasivo
to be merciful to or towards sb → ser clemente con algn, mostrarse compasivo con algn

2. (= blessed) death came as a merciful release → la muerte fue como una bendición

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

merciful

[ˈmɜː^rsɪfʊl] adj [person] → miséricordieux/euse, clément(e)
to be merciful → se montrer clément
I begged him to be merciful → Je l'ai supplié de se montrer clément.
a merciful God → un dieu miséricordieux
to be a merciful release → être une libération

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

merciful

adj → gnädig (to sb jdm gegenüber); o merciful Lord → gütiger Gott; O Lord be merciful! → Gott, sei uns (dat) → gnädig!; I begged him to be merciful → ich bat ihn um Gnade; his death was a merciful release from pain → sein Tod war für ihn eine Erlösung; merciful heavens! (dated) → gütiger Himmel! (dated)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

merciful

[ˈmɜːsɪfʊl] adj (Rel) → misericordioso/a; (person) → compassionevole, pietoso/a, clemente
it was a merciful release → è stata una vera liberazione

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

mercy

(ˈməːsi) – plural ˈmercies – noun

1. kindness towards a person, especially an enemy, who is in one's power. He showed his enemies no mercy.

2. a piece of good luck or something for which one should be grateful. It was a mercy that it didn't rain.

ˈmerciful adjective

willing to forgive or to punish only lightly. a merciful judge.

ˈmercifully adverb

ˈmerciless adjective

without mercy; cruel. merciless criticism.

ˈmercilessly adverb

at the mercy of

wholly in the power of, liable to be harmed by. A sailor is at the mercy of the sea.

have mercy on

to give kindness to (an enemy etc who is in one's power). Have mercy on me!

merciful

a. misericordioso-a, compasivo-a.

References in classic literature ?

And if this be rightly considered, he will be seen to have been much more merciful than the Florentine people, who, to avoid a reputation for cruelty, permitted Pistoia to be destroyed.[*] Therefore a prince, so long as he keeps his subjects united and loyal, ought not to mind the reproach of cruelty; because with a few examples he will be more merciful than those who, through too much mercy, allow disorders to arise, from which follow murders or robberies; for these are wont to injure the whole people, whilst those executions which originate with a prince offend the individual only.

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Nature, sometimes so cruel, is sometimes merciful. I covered him and turned down the light.

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This omnividence, as you call it -- it is not a common word in Spaceland -- does it make you more just, more merciful, less selfish, more loving?

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"God is merciful, doctors are never needed," she said.

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"Hester Prynne," cried he, with a piercing earnestness, "in the name of Him, so terrible and so merciful, who gives me grace, at this last moment, to do what -- for my own heavy sin and miserable agony -- I withheld myself from doing seven years ago, come hither now, and twine thy strength about me!

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The ship has been stauncher, the skies more merciful, the seas less angry, or perhaps the men on board of a finer temper than he has been willing to take for granted.

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There was something in the attitude of her whole figure as he supported it, and she hung her head, which besought him to be merciful and not force her to disclose her heart.

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I wrote it as fervently and pathetically as I could, and when I had finished it and sent it in, I wrote out other petitions to such men in authority as I hoped were the most merciful, and drew up one to the Crown itself.

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"Besides," said the abbe, "God is merciful to all, as he has been to you; he is first a father, then a judge."

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'"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."'

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And I will labor to be like my Saviour, by making humility lovely in the eyes of all men, and by following the merciful and meek example of my dear Jesus."

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A woman of rank and fortune waiting to receive her--a woman so merciful and so generous that the father's mind had been easy about the daughter on his deathbed--and there the daughter lay, beyond the reach of Lady Janet's kindness, beyond the need of Lady Janet's help!