ruthless
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See cruel.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ruthless
Explanation
Ruthless means showing no mercy or compassion. If you really want to cut down on the clutter in your apartment, you can't be sentimental about keepsakes. You have to be ruthless and throw out everything that's not absolutely essential. If you're ruthless, you're the polar opposite of Mother Theresa. You get called heartless and cold-blooded. That's one of the reasons the word crops up so often to describe dictators and tyrants, though it can also apply to other personality types — like corporate raiders and colleagues so success-driven that they'll gladly steamroll anyone to get ahead. It finds its way into milder contexts, too: Just be ruthless and rip off the Band-Aid already!
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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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.
That defeat dethroned Bath as champions and they were looking ruthless as they grabbed two early tries.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
What’s really driving the buzz is Sullivan’s aura—the self-assuredness and cockiness that scorers need in a ruthless sport.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
In a perfect world, we could focus our ire on the cynical, greedy and ruthless celebrities who treat their fans as saps.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
And once again on Sunday, Zverev’s ruthless efficiency proved too much.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
To their south sprawled the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, where the empire’s rulers, as ruthless and preoccupied with national glory as so many Bismarcks, considered what to do with their soldiers.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
