remorseless

American  

[ri-mawrs-lis] / rɪˈmɔrs lɪs /

adjective

1. without remorse; merciless; pitiless; relentless.

   Synonyms:

   cruel, inexorable, implacable, unrelenting, ruthless

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remorseless British  

/ rɪˈmɔːslɪs /

adjective

1. without compunction, pity, or compassion

2. not abating in intensity; relentless

   a remorseless wind

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Other Word Forms

• remorselessness
  noun
• remorselessly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of remorseless

First recorded in 1585–95; remorse + -less

Explanation

A person who is remorseless doesn't feel any guilt. If you're remorseless, you don't feel bad at all — even if you've done something terrible. When someone is remorseless, that person has no feeling of pity for people who have been hurt. If you're remorseless, you have no conscience — essentially, you're cruel and ruthless. A remorseless killer doesn't care about her victim, and a remorseless critic doesn't worry about hurting someone's feelings with his harsh words. Remorse is regret, and it's rooted in the Latin word remordere, "to vex or disturb," or literally, "to bite back."

Example Sentences

Remorseless grown, the demon of the storm Swept from his grasp her trembling, fragile form.

From As I Remember Recollections of American Society during the Nineteenth Century by Gouverneur, Marian

Remorseless, unrelenting, hard,  It holds its stubborn way, Which duty's claim cannot retard,  Nor righteous thoughts delay.

From Canada and Other Poems by Young, T. F. (Thomas Frederick)

Remorseless still, he cares not for their fate, Doom speedy, therefore, should on him await.

From The Emigrant Mechanic and Other Tales in Verse Together with Numerous Songs Upon Canadian Subjects by Cowherd, Thomas

The sailor's woes drew forth no sigh; No hand would close the sailor's eye; Remorseless, his pale corse they gave, Unshrouded, to the friendly wave.

From A Journal of a Young Man of Massachusetts, 2nd ed. Late A Surgeon On Board An American Privateer, Who Was Captured At Sea By The British, In May, Eighteen Hundred And Thirteen, And Was Confined First, At Melville Island, Halifax, Then At Chatham, In England ... And Last, At Dartmoor Prison. Interspersed With Observations, Anecdotes And Remarks, Tending To Illustrate The Moral And Political Characters Of Three Nations. To Which Is Added, A Correct Engraving Of Dartmoor Prison, Representing The Massacre Of American Prisoners, Written By Himself. by Waterhouse, Benjamin

Remorseless oppression of the people, for the purpose of raising money to be spent on the duke's costly whims, became the order of the day.

From The Life and Works of Friedrich Schiller by Thomas, Calvin