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.

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

Salah possessed the selfish, ruthless streak that is common among all the greats, but the assists figure alone demonstrates he was also a team contributor.

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

David Plotz: Do you get the sense that Lachlan has the ruthless brilliance and the eye for talent that Rupert Murdoch has had?

From Slate • Mar. 21, 2026

He rose to become founder Tahir Garayev’s second in command and gained a reputation as a ruthless dealmaker, some of the people familiar with his operations said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

I just don’t want him to come out of this with that ruthless type of attitude.

From "Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago" by LeAlan Jones

Vocabulary lists containing ruthless

Anti-Antonyms: Words Without Opposites

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Negative Words to Describe a Person

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The Things They Carried

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