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View synonyms for ruthless

ruthless

[ rooth-lis ]

adjective

  1. without pity or compassion; cruel; merciless:

    a ruthless tyrant.

    Synonyms: relentless, adamant, unrelenting



ruthless

/ ˈruːθlɪs /

adjective

  1. feeling or showing no mercy; hardhearted


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Derived Forms

  • ˈruthlessness, noun
  • ˈruthlessly, adverb

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Other Words From

  • ruthless·ly adverb
  • ruthless·ness noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of ruthless1

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English; ruth + -less

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Synonym Study

See cruel.

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Example Sentences

His stories were constructed with ruthless narrative efficiency.

To be fair, he might not have known that Pinochet was a ruthless dictator.

Her remarks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have drawn some ruthless criticism from Jews around the world.

So it continues to make local authorities and their ruthless cronies uneasy.

I was not prepared for the staggered, ruthless falling apart of one of the people I love most in the world.

This demand was made with scornful seriousness; with a ruthless application to the feelings of a son.

In the procession I should feel the crushing feet, the clashing discords, the ruthless hands and stifling breath.

This ruthless destruction of the forest brings down upon Calendau the anger of his lady; he has dishonored the noble mountain.

There was not one nook or cranny into which that ruthless self-knowledge could not throw its cruel glare.

The little camp had ceased to exist; the great, ruthless, calm forest had reclaimed its own.

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ruthfulrutilant