soldier of fortune

English

Noun

soldier of fortune (plural soldiers of fortune)

1. A non-commissioned soldier willing to serve any state or person who will hire him.

   Synonyms: mercenary; see also Thesaurus:mercenary

   • 1983-1987, The A-Team (television production), spoken by Narrator (John Ashley):

     Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team.

2. (figuratively, by extension) A person willing to work for or ally himself with any person or institution who will take him on.

Translations

mercenary

• Finnish: palkkasoturi (fi)
• French: mercenaire (fr) m
• German: Glücksritter (de) m, Söldner (de) m (formal)
• Greek: μισθοφόρος (el) m (misthofóros), τυχοδιώκτης (el) m (tychodióktis)
• Irish: amhas m
• Italian: soldato di ventura m
• Polish: najemnik (pl) m
• Romanian: mercenar (ro) m
• Russian: наёмник (ru) m (najómnik), солда́т уда́чи (ru) m (soldát udáči), солда́т форту́ны m (soldát fortúny)
• Tatar: ялчы (tt) (yalçı)

See also

• fortune hunter

Further reading

• “soldier of fortune”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “soldier of fortune”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.