mercenary's
Paid fighter's possession
Mercenary's is the possessive form of mercenary—a soldier who fights for pay rather than loyalty to a country or cause.
A mercenary's motives are financial rather than patriotic.
The word extends to anyone who acts purely for money: a mercenary's disregard for ethics.
The adjective mercenary describes such motivations: mercenary interests.
Fulfilling a financial obligation
- greedExcessive desire for wealth
- profitGain exceeding expenditure
- goldElement seventy-nine
- coinStamped metal currency
reward · bounty · wage · fee · compensation · incentive · self-interest · opportunism
Enforceable written agreement
- soldierArmed forces member
- hireTake on for work
- combatArmed hostile engagement
- warfareArmed conflict between groups
battalion · deployment · mission · tactical · firearm · armor · battlefield · regiment
Breaking of trust
- allegianceLoyalty owed to authority
- defectionAbandoning one's loyalty
- treacheryDeliberate violation of trust
- fickleErratically disloyal in affection
unreliable · turncoat · sellout · double-cross · desertion · oath · bond · disloyalty
German soldier-for-hire, 1770s
- SwissOf a neutral alpine nation
- guardWatchful defensive attention
- medievalOf the Middle Ages
- RenaissanceEuropean cultural reawakening
warlord · feudal · crusade · auxiliaries · foreign · legion · freelance · sellsword
Coldly self-serving in strategy
- coldLow temperature state
- ruthlessLacking any compassion
- venalOpen to bribes
- cynicalDoubting human goodness
heartless · transactional · exploitative · predatory · unfeeling · callous · mercantile · soulless
payment
Fulfilling a financial obligation
coin · reward · bounty · wage · fee · compensation · incentive · self-interest · opportunism · gain
contract
Enforceable written agreement
warfare · battalion · deployment · mission · tactical · firearm · armor · battlefield · regiment · private
betrayal
Breaking of trust
- allegianceLoyalty owed to authority
- defectionAbandoning one's loyalty
- treacheryDeliberate violation of trust
fickle · unreliable · turncoat · sellout · double-cross · desertion · oath · bond · disloyalty · switching
Hessian
German soldier-for-hire, 1770s
Renaissance · warlord · feudal · crusade · auxiliaries · foreign · legion · freelance · sellsword · company
calculating
Coldly self-serving in strategy
cynical · heartless · transactional · exploitative · predatory · unfeeling · callous · mercantile · soulless · amoral