ruthless

[rooth-lis] / ˈruθ lɪs /

ADJECTIVE

mean, heartless

Synonyms

STRONGEST

barbarous brutal callous cold-blooded cruel cutthroat ferocious fierce harsh inhuman malevolent merciless rancorous relentless sadistic savage unforgiving unrelenting unyielding vicious vindictive

WEAK

adamant cold dog-eat-dog feral grim hard hard-hearted implacable inexorable ironfisted killer mortal obdurate pitiless remorseless revengeful severe stern stony surly unappeasable unfeeling unmerciful unsympathetic without pity

Antonyms

STRONGEST

calm civilized compassionate easy feeling flexible forgiving friendly gentle humane kind merciful mild nice nonviolent peaceful polite sympathetic tame tender

WEAK

considerate giving

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Rockefeller succeeded through vision, hard work, and ruthless tactics—and in the end, his creation was broken up by regulators.

From Barron's • May 2, 2026

He made a deal with the right, left, and center in Hungary, and he was ruthless, and rigorous, and disciplined in making this commitment.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

Visiting Nashville, Tenn., Ms. Gage considers Andrew Jackson critically as the ruthless bane of indigenous people that he was, but she misses an opportunity to explore his Scots-Irish identity.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Ursula has shades of Gellar’s famous characters — Buffy’s physical ferocity, Kathryn Merteuil’s ruthless cattiness, Daphne Blake’s affinity for mysterious games — but doesn’t play to one exclusively.

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026

“The ends justifying the means is something a ruthless dictator might say, not a philosopher.”

From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty

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