take-no-prisoners

American

[teyk-noh-priz-uh-nerz, ‑-priz-nerz] / ˈteɪkˌnoʊˈprɪz ə nərz, ‑ˈprɪz nərz /

adjective

wholeheartedly aggressive; zealous; gung-ho.

a businessman with a take-no-prisoners attitude toward dealmaking.

Etymology

Origin of take-no-prisoners

First recorded in 1990–95

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.

Her take-no-prisoners portrayal of Lois quickly became a defining career highlight.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

Bobby Axelrod, the hard-charging, take-no-prisoners billionaire who served as the antagonist-cum-co-protagonist for the first five seasons of “Billions,” returns at the end of the show’s seventh and final season premiere.

From New York Times • Aug. 11, 2023

Mr. Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, has signaled that he plans to run as a happy warrior, seeing it as a way to distance himself from Mr. Trump’s take-no-prisoners approach to politics.

From Washington Times • May 19, 2023

Forced ranking of employees was famously pioneered by Jack Welch, the take-no-prisoners CEO of General Electric, who influenced a generation of top executives at Boeing.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 6, 2023

Her intelligence and take-no-prisoners approach to playing made her a formidable opponent.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023