Synonyms for mercy
ˈmɜr simer·cy

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. mercy

   Mercy is the exercise of less severity than one deserves, or in a more extended sense, the granting of kindness or favor beyond what one may rightly claim. Grace is favor, kindness, or blessing shown to the undeserving; forgiveness, mercy, and pardon are exercised toward the ill-deserving. Pardon remits the outward penalty which the offender deserves; forgiveness dismisses resentment or displeasure from the heart of the one offended; mercy seeks the highest possible good of the offender. There may be mercy without pardon, as in the mitigation of sentence, or in all possible alleviation of necessary severity; there may be cases where pardon would not be mercy, since it would encourage to repetition of the offense, from which timely punishment might have saved. Mercy is also used in the wider sense of refraining from harshness or cruelty toward those who are in one's power without fault of their own; as, they besought the robber to have mercy. Clemency is a colder word than mercy, and without its religious associations, signifying mildness and moderation in the use of power where severity would have legal or military, rather than moral sanction; it often denotes a habitual mildness of disposition on the part of the powerful, and is matter rather of good nature or policy than of principle. Leniency or lenity denotes an easy-going avoidance of severity; these words are more general and less magisterial than clemency; we should speak of the leniency of a parent, the clemency of a conqueror. Compare PITY.

   Synonyms:
   benevolence, benignity, blessing, clemency, compassion, favor, forbearance, forgiveness, gentleness, grace, kindness, lenience, leniency, lenity, mildness, pardon, pardon, pity, tenderness

   Antonyms:
   cruelty, hardness, harshness, implacability, justice, penalty, punishment, revenge, rigor, severity, sternness, vengeance

   Preposition:
   The mercy of God to or toward sinners; have mercy on or upon one.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:4.5 / 2 votes

1. mercy

   Synonyms:
   compassion, clemency, forgiveness, forbearance, grace, benefit, gift, pity, leniency, tenderness

   Antonyms:
   exaction, harshness, cruelty, vengeance, unpityingness, unforgiveness

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. clemency, mercifulness, mercynoun

   leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice

   "he threw himself on the mercy of the court"

   Synonyms:
   mercy, mildness, clemency, mercifulness

2. mercifulness, mercynoun

   a disposition to be kind and forgiving

   "in those days a wife had to depend on the mercifulness of her husband"

   Synonyms:
   mercy, clemency, mercifulness

3. mercifulness, mercynoun

   the feeling that motivates compassion

   Synonyms:
   mercy, clemency, mercifulness

4. mercynoun

   something for which to be thankful

   "it was a mercy we got out alive"

   Synonyms:
   clemency, mercifulness

5. mercynoun

   alleviation of distress; showing great kindness toward the distressed

   "distributing food and clothing to the flood victims was an act of mercy"

   Synonyms:
   clemency, mercifulness

Matched Categories

1. • Blessing
   • Compassion
   • Humaneness
   • Leniency
   • Relief

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. mercynoun

   Synonyms:
   clemency, lenity, lenience, leniency, compassion, pity, tenderness, kindness, mildness, gentleness

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. mercynoun

   Synonyms:
   clemency, pity, lenity, leniency, lenience, compassion, forgiveness, placability, discretion, disposal, blessing, favor

   Antonyms:
   revenge, implacability, inclemency, incompassion

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:1.0 / 1 vote

1. List of paraphrases for "mercy":

   clemency, misericordia, pity, leniency, clemencia, compassion, clémence, rahmah, grace, merciful, rahma, thanks, please, pardon, gracia, piety, rahim

Suggested Resources

1. mercy

   Song lyrics by mercy -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by mercy on the Lyrics.com website.

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How to use mercy in a sentence?

1. John Fetterman:

   I always want to err on the side of mercy, juvenile lifers released by a Supreme Court decision, the recidivism rate was less than 1%. That's a remarkable statistic. That demonstrates that these individuals, once they are released, are not Hannibal Lecters, they're out living their best lives. … You age out of crime. Now imagine people who have never taken a life to begin with, imagine what that recidivism rate would be.

2. Abdullah Noman:

   The problem isn't in selecting a new president ... but it's tied to the militias' control of the capital and on decision-making, so any new president will be at the mercy of these militias who are still holding Hadi, the prime minister and a number of officials under house arrest.

3. William Shakespeare:

   Nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy.

4. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop:

   What we are asking is that President Widodo show mercy to these two young Australians.

5. Australians Myuran Sukumaran:

   We please ask the president to use his powers and intervene and save their lives, he's the only one who can stop it and it's not too late to do so. So I please ask the president, please show mercy.