ruthless
Americanadjective
adjective
Related Words
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.
On the title run-in, Maeda was a devastating presence, a ruthless finisher - something he hasn't always been renowned as.
From BBC • May 23, 2026
Czesław is an ethnic Pole in the Red Army who escaped a ruthless German ambush.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
The “Five-Dollar Day”—part publicity stunt, part ruthless business tactic—jump-started a consumer revolution that drove the U.S. economy to 20th-century global dominance and still powers it today.
From Barron's • May 20, 2026
Guardiola has always been a trendsetter, a ruthless, driven winner determined to make his mark wherever he goes before moving on.
From BBC • May 18, 2026
It was a cruel, ruthless madness, and it made them shiver more than a bitter, endless winter.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
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.
