Sellsword
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A mercenary. usually
"One such warrior was Kothar, cast up by the sea in the northlands of his world, a sellsword and a mercenary, a wencher after the women of his day, a freebooter and a thief, at times, whose sword Frostfire was a magic sword."
- 2 Someone who only works for money, in the manner of a mercenary. broadly, derogatory, figuratively, often
"Whenever I see Alcides Escobar make another unbelievable play at shortstop, I can’t help but think we got the better of the deal in the trade for Zack Grienke. The money-hungry Grienke is now pitching for the Dodgers and admits he wanted to play for the team that paid him the most cash. A sellsword. A gunslinger for hire."
Example
More examples"One such warrior was Kothar, cast up by the sea in the northlands of his world, a sellsword and a mercenary, a wencher after the women of his day, a freebooter and a thief, at times, whose sword Frostfire was a magic sword."
Etymology
From sell + sword. Compare hired gun.
More for "sellsword"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.