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Glite Dictionary
🤲 Kind and forgiving 👑 Gracious ruler
merciful

merciful

11 6.3
A ruler who is kind and gives people help or second chances
  • adjective
  • /ˈmɜːrsɪfəl/
  • Literature
translation icon : clemente
  • God, the Father in Heaven, most merciful.
  • the most merciful

Examples

  • Perhaps the Merciful God gave her permission...

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The merciful mother of all you who live united in this land.

    Lady of Guadalupe (2020)

  • After all, you are the Merciful One!"

    Fiction book (1996)

  • And I, being a merciful Lord obliged.

    Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

  • ANDRE: Thank you, my great and merciful master.

    Just Visiting (2001)

  • In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

    The Lady of Heaven (2021)

  • By command of His Most Merciful Excellency, your lives are to be spared.

    Spartacus (1960)

  • The fatwa read: "In the name of God, the Merciful and the Forgiving."

    Academic text (1993)

  • Merciful lady, hear us.

    Solomon (1997)

  • The Most Merciful King offered his protection to all the innocent people in the kingdom.

Synonyms

magnanimous
vsmerciful
  • Formal
16 8.0

Being kind and generous when forgiving people who hurt you

is a formal noble title rather than everyday generous behaviour
clement
vsmerciful
9.1

Ready to forgive people and give lighter punishments

is used as a gracious noble title rather than a general personal trait

Antonyms

merciless
33 5.3

Showing no pity and treating people in a cruel way

How Merciful

magnanimous
  • Formal
16 8.0
merciful
  • Literature
11 6.3
benevolent
53 5.1
lenient
32 4.4
strict
359 3.2

Surface Forms

merciful positive

Morphology

merciful = mercy (transparent) = mercy + ful

Same morphological formation as the general sense; the royal or honorific use is a register-specific application but still derives from 'mercy' + '-ful'.

Etymology

The word merciful comes from the same root as mercy, meaning 'kindness' or 'favor', and was often used to describe rulers who showed grace. That's why a merciful king or queen is a leader who forgives, gives second chances, and does not punish harshly.