Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

at the mercy of

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.25 in modern English

Syllables: at the mer-cy of
IPA

25

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

2

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

prep

In the power of; defenceless/defenseless against.

Example Sentences

"The ball game is scheduled for Saturday, but we're still at the mercy of the weather."
"The stories did not seem to me to touch life. […] They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator."
"Most of Britain's railways were built in the Victorian era. Railway routes were not only at the mercy of geography, but also of local landowners who wanted to minimise the impact on their estates. Construction was carried out by navvies armed with picks and shovels, with very little understanding of the underlying geology."

Questions

What does at the mercy of mean?: In the power of; defenceless/defenseless against.

How to pronounce at the mercy of

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “at the mercy of”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “at the mercy of” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.