mercenary
Fights for cash
A mercenary is a soldier who fights for pay rather than loyalty or ideology, hired by a foreign government or private entity.
The word carries connotations of fighting purely for money, without conviction.
As an adjective, mercenary describes anyone motivated primarily by financial gain: His interest in her seemed mercenary.
The company hired mercenaries to guard the compound.
Disloyal and dangerous
- untrustworthyNot deserving of confidence
- boughtObtained through payment
- bribableAble to be bought
- corruptibleAble to be bought
double-dealing · turncoat · opportunistic · perfidious · faithless · fickle · defector · disloyal
Hired construction professional
- hired gunPaid outside specialist
- soldier of fortunePaid military contractor
- hired soldierCombatant employed for wages
- security contractorHired civilian combat personnel
private security · legionnaire · condottiero · ronin · hessian · foreign fighter · professional soldier · sellsword
Unfeeling or externally heated
- brutalSavagely harsh or severe
- callousCruelly insensitive to others
- remorselessLacking guilt or pity
- pitilessLacking any compassion
merciless · heartless · unscrupulous · amoral · cutthroat · savage · hardened · indifferent
Gave money owed
- feePayment for service
- compensationPayment for services rendered
- bountyReward for capture
- goldElement seventy-nine
payment · reward · contract price · commission · retainer · earnings · financial gain · cash
Combat engagement area
- warfareArmed conflict between groups
- tacticsMethods to achieve goals
- engagementCommitment to wed or attend
- ambushSurprise strike from concealment
assault · skirmish · guerrilla · reconnaissance · firefight · extraction · covert ops · armed
Excessively wanting more
- venalOpen to bribes
- self-servingBenefiting oneself primarily
- unprincipledLacking moral standards
- exploitativeUnfairly using others' vulnerabilities
opportunist · soulless · morally bankrupt · cynical · materialistic · acquisitive · grasping · predatory
Toilet waste or tannin-stained swamp
- PMCCorporate military service provider
- security firmBusiness providing safety services
- defense contractorCompany producing military goods
treacherous
Disloyal and dangerous
- untrustworthyNot deserving of confidence
- boughtObtained through payment
- bribableAble to be bought
corruptible · double-dealing · turncoat · opportunistic · perfidious · faithless · fickle · defector · disloyal · betrayer
contractor
Hired construction professional
- hired gunPaid outside specialist
- soldier of fortunePaid military contractor
- hired soldierCombatant employed for wages
security contractor · private security · legionnaire · condottiero · ronin · hessian · foreign fighter · professional soldier · sellsword · bodyguard
cold-blooded
Unfeeling or externally heated
- brutalSavagely harsh or severe
- callousCruelly insensitive to others
- remorselessLacking guilt or pity
pitiless · merciless · heartless · unscrupulous · amoral · cutthroat · savage · hardened · indifferent · calculating
paid
Gave money owed
- feePayment for service
- compensationPayment for services rendered
- bountyReward for capture
gold · payment · reward · contract price · commission · retainer · earnings · financial gain · cash · wages
battlefield
Combat engagement area
- warfareArmed conflict between groups
- tacticsMethods to achieve goals
- engagementCommitment to wed or attend
ambush · assault · skirmish · guerrilla · reconnaissance · firefight · extraction · covert ops · armed · weaponry
greedy
Excessively wanting more
- venalOpen to bribes
- self-servingBenefiting oneself primarily
- unprincipledLacking moral standards
exploitative · opportunist · soulless · morally bankrupt · cynical · materialistic · acquisitive · grasping · predatory · parasitic
blackwater
Toilet waste or tannin-stained swamp
- PMCCorporate military service provider
- security firmBusiness providing safety services
- defense contractorCompany producing military goods
- historical warfaremusket, bayonet, cannon, flintlock, cavalry
- Mercenarieshired guns, hired gun, soldiers of fortune, soldier of fortune, sellswords
- nonstate actorsmilitia, insurgent, rebel group, guerrilla, paramilitary
- Ottoman militaryjanissaries, pasha, aga, agha, bey
- fantasywizard, witch, magic, dragon, elf
- action genresmartial arts, kung fu, spy, western, war films
mercenarypatriot
Devoted country supporter
volunteer · conscript · freedom fighter · citizen soldier · revolutionary
mercenaryaltruistic
Concerned for others' welfare
selfless · unselfish · generous · philanthropic · charitable
- mercenary armiesMilitary forces bought, not raised
- mercenary forcesTroops fighting for pay
- Swiss mercenaryPaid fighter from Switzerland