Meanings
present singular third person has mercy · participle present having mercy · participle past had mercy · past had mercy
- imperativeusuallyTo show mercy or compassion; to stop inflicting punishment or a barrage.
"I have learnt it!" cried the old man. "Oh, have mercy on me in this hour, if, in my love for her, so young and good, I slandered Nature in the breasts of mothers rendered desperate! Pity my presumption, wickedness, and ignorance, and save her!"
1844 (date written), Charles Dickens, “Fourth Quarter”, in The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year out and a New Year in, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1845, →OCLC, page 165Synonyms: spare
- Synonym of lawdamercy.
Have mercy! Did you see her walkin by? I'll be thinkin about that sight all night!
Synonyms: lawdamercy
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo show mercy or compassion; to stop inflicting punishment or a barrage.
interjectionSynonym of lawdamercy.
Translations
Ancient Greek ἐλεέω
- ἐλεέω (eleéō)show mercy or compassion
Arabic رَحِمَ
- رَحِمَ (raḥima)show mercy or compassion
Czech slitovat se, smilovat se
- slitovat seshow mercy or compassion
- smilovat seshow mercy or compassion
- ušetřitshow mercy or compassion
German sich erbarmen
- sich erbarmenshow mercy or compassion
Hindi दया करना
- दया करना (dayā karnā)show mercy or compassion
Hungarian könyörül, megkönyörül
- könyörülshow mercy or compassion
- megkönyörülshow mercy or compassion
- irgalmazshow mercy or compassion
- szánshow mercy or compassion
- megszánshow mercy or compassion
Latin miseror
- miserorshow mercy or compassion
Polish zmiłować się
- zmiłować sięshow mercy or compassion
Russian пощадить
- пощадить (poščaditʹ)show mercy or compassion
Spanish mostrar misericordia, apiadarse
- mostrar misericordiashow mercy or compassion
- apiadarseshow mercy or compassion
- ser misericordeshow mercy or compassion
Cite this entry
have mercy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20mercy
“have mercy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20mercy. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “have mercy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20mercy.
Source: have mercy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.