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
The New York Giants’ season will come to a merciful end Sunday with a matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
—
Dan Duggan, The Athletic, 2 Jan. 2025
The former cannot escape his past, carrying the burden of memory; the latter, touched by the merciful hand of fate, has freed himself from that weight.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 23 Aug. 2024
The miserable 2024-25 New York Giants season came to a merciful end with a 20-13 loss to the division rival Philadelphia Eagles.
—Charlotte Carroll, The Athletic, 5 Jan. 2025
That, however, was the merciful end to the Flyers’ comeback bid as the B’s somehow survived the onslaught for the win.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 16 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for merciful
Dan Duggan, The Athletic, 2 Jan. 2025
The former cannot escape his past, carrying the burden of memory; the latter, touched by the merciful hand of fate, has freed himself from that weight.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 23 Aug. 2024
The miserable 2024-25 New York Giants season came to a merciful end with a 20-13 loss to the division rival Philadelphia Eagles.
—Charlotte Carroll, The Athletic, 5 Jan. 2025
That, however, was the merciful end to the Flyers’ comeback bid as the B’s somehow survived the onslaught for the win.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 16 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for merciful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for merciful
Adjective
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The average patient debt being retired is $1,100, according to Undue Medical Debt, with some reaching the hundreds of thousands of dollars.—
Noam Levey,
NPR,
4 Apr. 2025
-
Its website has a searchable database of patient assistance programs, discount drug cards, and other cost-saving resources.—
Robert Burakoff,
Health,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
But land reform is so fundamental to how the current government took power that no citizen may portray it as anything other than a benevolent campaign that brought fairness and prosperity to China’s long-suffering farmers.—
Ian Johnson,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2025
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Analyzing the legendary unicorn tapestries hanging at the Met Cloisters in New York (augmented here by a gory new panel that depicts the suddenly fearsome animals disemboweling and impaling their aggressors), Ridley concludes that unicorns aren’t nearly as benevolent as most people think.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
9 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Also there is having to balance being compassionate and caring while also remembering that this is a business.—
J.M. Banks,
Kansas City Star,
9 Apr. 2025
-
But White and Jonas haven’t built an anxious or a particularly compassionate Jamie.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Shares in Newsmax, the cable TV news outlet known for its sympathetic coverage of Donald Trump, soared more than 700% on their first day of trading.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
31 Mar. 2025
-
Since June, a group of American and Israeli-born Jews have been meeting every few weeks in New York for a salon-style series of talks that include the perspectives of Palestinians, and of Jews sympathetic to their cause.—
Andrew Silow-Carroll,
Sun Sentinel,
31 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Clara’s Table restaurant is Dearborn Inn’s tribute to Henry Ford’s wife, Clara, a passionate horticulturist and gracious hostess.—
Devorah Lev-Tov,
AFAR Media,
9 Apr. 2025
-
The press conference had a very gracious tone on the U.S. relationship.—
Brendan Ahern,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The long gap between seasons has not been kind to the show, which returned way down in the ratings this past fall.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
2 Apr. 2025
-
Holly Marie Combs has nothing but kind words for the young Pretty Little Liars cast — and a couple of digs at her twentysomething self.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
31 Mar. 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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Just love, patience, and someone who sees the beauty in older cats with soft hearts and gentle spirits.—
TJ Macias,
Kansas City Star,
31 Mar. 2025
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The Friend functions perfectly well as a dog picture, a movie about a frazzled single woman learning to care for a gentle but unruly animal in the big, bad city.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
28 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Merciful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/merciful. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.
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