Words / B1

MURS-ee/ˈmɜːsi/

Mercy is kindness and forgiveness when you could punish (often uncountable). Kindness is everyday; at the mercy of means unable to control something. Courts: the judge showed mercy with a community order.

Meaning

Kindness and forgiveness shown to someone you could punish (often uncountable).

Examples

• “The judge showed mercy and gave a community order, not custody.”
• “Coastal towns were at the mercy of the tide, which is the idiom.”

Good to know

Often uncountable. show mercy; at the mercy of. Everyday: kindness. Courts / weather idiom. Not “a mercy” except in it’s a mercy that.

Near in meaning

kindness

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