ruthless

[ rooth-lis ]

/ ˈruθ lɪs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ruthless ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

without pity or compassion; cruel; merciless: a ruthless tyrant.

Nearby words

rutherford, rutherford scattering, rutherford, ernest, rutherfordium, ruthful, ruthless, rutidosis, rutilant, rutilated, rutile, rutin

Origin of ruthless

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at ruth, -less

SYNONYMS FOR ruthless

unrelenting, adamant, relentless.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ruthless ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

ruth·less·ly, adverbruth·less·ness, noun

Synonym study

See cruel.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ruthless

His stories were constructed with ruthless narrative efficiency.
Can Tarzan of the Apes Survive in a Post-Colonial World?|Ted Gioia|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To be fair, he might not have known that Pinochet was a ruthless dictator.
Borges Had A Genius For Literature But Not Love Or Much Else|Allen Barra|October 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So it continues to make local authorities and their ruthless cronies uneasy.
Anatomy of a Mexican Student Massacre|Jason McGahan|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I was not prepared for the staggered, ruthless falling apart of one of the people I love most in the world.
No One Ever Loses to Cancer|Dushka Zapata|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Pablo Escobar is one of the most ruthless people in history.
Gangster in Paradise: Benicio Del Toro Is Pablo Escobar|Alex Suskind|September 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Hes sworn to get you, Henderson, and hes absolutely reckless and ruthless, as you know.
The Radio Detectives Under the Sea|A. Hyatt Verrill
It had been a great stage-coaching town in the great stage-coaching times, and the ruthless railways had killed and buried it.
The Uncommercial Traveller|Charles Dickens
It is ruthless, insistent, and deep with the violence of outraged might.
The Heart of Unaga|Ridgwell Cullum
The old man saw it, but worldly philosophy made him ruthless.
Mabel's Mistake|Ann S. Stephens
And we noted on one of the two ancient town crosses the rudely carved figure of a boar, the emblem of this ruthless king.
In Unfamiliar England|Thomas Dowler Murphy

British Dictionary definitions for ruthless

ruthless

/ (ˈruːθlɪs) /

adjective

feeling or showing no mercy; hardhearted

Derived Forms

ruthlessly, adverbruthlessness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012