unmerciful

American  

[uhn-mur-si-fuhl] / ʌnˈmɜr sɪ fəl /

adjective

1. merciless; relentless; severe; cruel; pitiless.

2. unsparingly great, extreme, or excessive, as amounts.

   to talk for an unmerciful length of time.

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unmerciful British  

/ ʌnˈmɜːsɪfʊl /

adjective

1. showing no mercy; relentless

2. extreme or excessive

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Other Word Forms

• unmercifully adverb
• unmercifulness noun

Etymology

Origin of unmerciful

First recorded in 1475–85; un- ¹ + merciful

Example Sentences

You remembered the halcyon days of the first coming of Brendan Rodgers and the unmerciful hidings his team doled out to their chums from across the city.

From BBC • Dec. 30, 2023

Doing stand-up, Leggero is observational and unmerciful, lampooning everyone from Rite-Aid cashiers to typewriter-toting hipsters, a dumpster-diving Burning Man attendee named “Flapjack,” and, naturally, Kasher.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2022

In a sports town that can be unmerciful in its vitriol, Simmons, traded from Philadelphia to Brooklyn last month, fist-bumped his new teammate Kevin Durant.

From Washington Post • Mar. 11, 2022

It took the huge and sudden migration of the Gold Rush for the tribe to be confronted by unmerciful invaders.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 27, 2021

Big Ma said we would cause her slow and unmerciful death, but we knew she didn’t mean it.

From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia