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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Recent Examples of merciful
Federer breaks the record of 12 straight finals victories shared by Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.
2008 — Michigan’s 42-7 drubbing by Ohio State put a merciful end to the worst season in Michigan’s 129 years of intercollegiate football.
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Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2024
Discrete levels are filled with an array of obstacles and enemies, some of which culminate in gigantic bosses whose easygoing challenge offers a merciful break from the likes of Elden Ring.
—Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2024
Some are kept affordable by other government subsidies, by merciful landlords or by states, including California, Colorado and New York, that have worked to keep them low-cost by relying on several levers.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 6 Oct. 2024
Campaigning for this surprise snap election lasted just a merciful six weeks.
—William
booth, Washington Post, 4 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for merciful 
Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2024
Discrete levels are filled with an array of obstacles and enemies, some of which culminate in gigantic bosses whose easygoing challenge offers a merciful break from the likes of Elden Ring.
—Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2024
Some are kept affordable by other government subsidies, by merciful landlords or by states, including California, Colorado and New York, that have worked to keep them low-cost by relying on several levers.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 6 Oct. 2024
Campaigning for this surprise snap election lasted just a merciful six weeks.
—William
booth, Washington Post, 4 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for merciful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for merciful
Adjective
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DoorDash customers are asked to be patient during winter and turn on their outdoor lights to help out the delivery drivers.Renee Umsted, Charlotte Observer, 10 Jan. 2025
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Credit to Mobley for being such a mature player, able to be patient with his role so the Cavaliers could evolve.Eric Koreen, The Athletic, 10 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Welcome to 2025—a world of benevolent AI, robot assistants, biological breakthroughs, and the general promise of the future.Amy Sterling, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
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In a most benevolent gesture, Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts has invited the most prolific home run hitter in franchise history, the man who sold more tickets to Wrigley Field than the beer and the ivy, to the team’s fan convention next month.Jon Greenberg, The Athletic, 19 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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This guiding principle has been instrumental in shaping the firm’s success and its reputation for compassionate advocacy.William Jones, USA TODAY, 16 Jan. 2025
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Being compassionate with yourself will give you more answers.Gillian Mohney, Verywell Health, 15 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The hierarchy is sympathetic to the difficulties faced by former St. Pauli head coach Hurzeler in a new country and at a new level — St. Pauli won 2.Bundesliga under his command last season — with numerous changes to the squad and the non-playing staff all exacerbated by a mountain of injuries.Andy Naylor, The Athletic, 16 Jan. 2025
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Older South Koreans, however, are more sympathetic to Yoon.Se Eun Gong, NPR, 15 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Dalin was gracious in the moment, but those close to him and the campaign acknowledge that the sting was real.George Allen, Robb Report, 15 Jan. 2025
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The hotel feels grown-up and staff effusively handle all of your needs with a striking level of gracious humility.Lauren Mowery, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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But the party went on, albeit cloaked anew as a fund-raiser for a kinder, gentler organization, the Good Neighbor Council for Aircraft Noise Control.Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 8 Jan. 2025
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Being one of 11 siblings, Dina is looking for someone who is kind, ambitious and family-oriented.Dana Rose Falcone, People.com, 7 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The cast includes Stephen Merchant as the voice of the mouse, Kristen Wiig as a scenery-chewing evil aunt, and Jim Broadbent as a kindly but clueless king.EW.com, EW.com, 20 Dec. 2024
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In his fourth feature, director Hsiao Ya-Chuan follows the unsentimental education of a motherless 11-year-old boy, Liao Jie (Bai Run-yin), raised in poverty by his kindly father, Liao Tai-lai (Liu Kuan-Ting), a waiter at a busy banqueting hall.Alissa Simon, Variety, 25 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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As such, retinol rookies may consider starting with a gentler formulation like this one, which is also fragrance-free.Jenny Berg, Vogue, 18 Jan. 2025
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Nurse and aesthetician Natalie Aguilar, co-founder of N4 Skincare, recommends paring down your skincare regimen to the gentlest products in your regimen that your skin is known to tolerate.Jessica Ourisman, Forbes, 18 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near merciful
Cite this Entry
“Merciful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/merciful. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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