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
White, head of the women’s branch of the Pennsylvania SPCA, led the campaign to develop merciful ways of killing strays.
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Barbara Spindel, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 June 2024
Democrats would look merciful and statesmanlike to undecided voters.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 3 June 2024
God is kind, gracious, merciful, truthful and forgiving.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 1 Apr. 2024
Some alternative endings in the Chapter 9 Project include Esther calling for a 36-person task force to mend relationships in the kingdom; for Jews to be merciful, rather than vengeful; and for everyone in Persia to surrender their weapons.
—Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for merciful 
Barbara Spindel, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 June 2024
Democrats would look merciful and statesmanlike to undecided voters.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 3 June 2024
God is kind, gracious, merciful, truthful and forgiving.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 1 Apr. 2024
Some alternative endings in the Chapter 9 Project include Esther calling for a 36-person task force to mend relationships in the kingdom; for Jews to be merciful, rather than vengeful; and for everyone in Persia to surrender their weapons.
—Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for merciful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for merciful
Adjective
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This increase is attributed to changes in occupancy, patient mix, and Medicaid rates.Quartz Bot, Quartz, 14 Nov. 2024
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Integrated tracking provides insights to fuel further optimization toward business KPIs like first consult and patient conversion rates.Bahram Moshrefnoory, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Many people believe that slavery in Latin America was a benevolent institution.Ana Lucia Araujo / Made by History, TIME, 4 Nov. 2024
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In recent years, the naive belief held by most Americans, that the Fed is an apolitical body of benevolent technocrats who would never use their immense, ring-of-Sauron-like power for anything but the good of humanity, has evaporated.Dave Birnbaum, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Take compassionate, caring actions to support others.Stephanie Innes, The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2024
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But the real knockout is Saldaña, a compassionate audience surrogate and urgent energy source.Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Many states that rely on advisory committee recommendations for vaccination schedules and mandates could also choose to ignore them if people sympathetic to Kennedy’s views join the panels.Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 5 Nov. 2024
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With its sympathetic portraits of Donald Trump and Roy Cohn, The Apprentice is, in the end, yet another bland Hollywood biopic.A. S. Hamrah, The New York Review of Books, 31 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Lucas Oil tweeted a video of the large, inflatable bracelet being hung while thanking their BFF Caesars Dome for the gracious gift.Kurtcia Collazo, The Indianapolis Star, 1 Nov. 2024
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Even with this common sense stowed away somewhere in our brains, gracious hosts can't help but want everything to be as close to perfect as possible for their guests (yes, even in the rooms no one will enter).Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 1 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Be kind to yourself: The election is stressing us out.Carlie Kollath Wells, Axios, 5 Nov. 2024
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So try to do something kind for yourself in the process of grieving.Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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In 2016 in California, Hindu-nationalist groups claimed that sixth-grade textbooks were biased against Hindus and demanded they be revised to give a kindlier depiction of the caste system, and to downplay the role of patriarchy in India.Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 20 Aug. 2024
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But the kindly decision wasn't popular with the pup, who clearly didn't want to give up any of his beloved toys.David Faris, Newsweek, 10 July 2024
Adjective
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Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low to maintain a very gentle simmer for 2 hours.Cathy Thomas, Orange County Register, 11 Nov. 2024
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These include their nocturnal lifestyle and their strong odor. Smart and friendly, the world’s largest rodent (weighing more than 100 pounds) is social and gentle.Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 6 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near merciful
Cite this Entry
“Merciful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/merciful. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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