From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmercifulmer‧ci‧ful /ˈmɜːsɪfəl $ ˈmɜːr-/ adjective 1 → merciful death/end/release2 KINDbeing kind to people and forgiving them rather than punishing them or being cruel OPP cruel Merciful God, save us.
Examples from the Corpus
merciful• But the reality is, ladies and gentlemen, I am being merciful.• Who am I to be merciful?• A merciful amnesia usually came with these comas and who could deny it was a blessing?• Merciful God• While he was still fumbling four more of the shrieks blasted out of the ether; then there was a merciful silence.• Le Bon Seigneur had been merciful to the Grand Duke and accorded him a fine day. 