merchant of death
Weapons trade profiteer
A merchant of death is someone who profits from war—typically an arms dealer, weapons manufacturer, or war profiteer.
The phrase carries strong moral condemnation, suggesting that such people trade in human suffering for financial gain: The defense contractor was denounced as a merchant of death.
Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite, was famously called this in a premature obituary, reportedly inspiring him to establish the Nobel Prizes.
- blood moneyPayment tied to death
- arms dealerVendor of weaponry
- smugglerIllegal goods transporter
- war profiteerOne enriched by conflict
- gunrunnerIllegal weapons trafficker
illegal arms · profiteering · warmonger · war crimes · black marketeer · shadow economy · trafficker · exploitation · arms race · moral corruption · defense contractor · moral bankruptcy · military-industrial complex · munitions · anti-war movements · tycoon · Nobel · arms trafficking
merchant of deathpeacemaker
Conflict resolution agent
peace activist · humanitarian · lifesaver · angel of mercy · peace broker
merchant of deathlife-giver
Source of existence
healer · lifesaver · humanitarian · Mother Teresa · physician
merchant, merchants, merchandise, merchandiser, merchandising, mercantile, death, deaths