beg for mercy
Implore for clemency
To beg for mercy is to plead desperately for compassion or leniency, usually from someone who has power over you: The prisoner begged for mercy before sentencing.
The phrase implies vulnerability and submission—you're asking not for justice but for kindness you have no right to demand.
It appears in both literal contexts of physical threat and figurative ones: By the third hour of the meeting, we were all begging for mercy.
- desperationUtter loss of hope
- cry for helpUrgent request for assistance
- submissionYielding to another's will
- supplicationHumble plea for help
- white flagSignal of capitulation
plea bargain · punishment · fear · forgiveness · captivity · death row · guilt · compassion · humility · empathy · survival · danger · at gunpoint · oppression · clemency · hope · shame · authority
- mercyclemency, compassion, forgiveness, leniency, lenience
beg for mercydefy
Resist or challenge openly
resist · fight back · stand one's ground · never surrender · challenge
beg for mercyshow mercy
Treat with leniency
spare · pardon · forgive · have mercy · reprieve
mercy, begs, begged, begging, beggar, beggars, beggarly, mercies, merciful