pitiless

adjective

piti·​less ˈpi-ti-ləs How to pronounce pitiless (audio)
: devoid of pity : harsh, cruel
pitilessly adverb
pitilessness noun

Examples of pitiless in a Sentence

The soldiers were pitiless toward their enemy. gave the beggar in the street a pitiless look and kept on walking
Recent Examples on the Web His family and allies have otherwise been annihilated by a rival aristocratic house called the Harkonnens, a hairless, pitiless cadre of fascists. David Sims, The Atlantic, 28 Feb. 2024 William, however, still bears the scars of the pitiless coverage of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, which ended with her death in a car accident in Paris in 1997, pursued by the paparazzi. Mark Landler, New York Times, 7 Feb. 2024 That unlucky sojourner happens to be the one person here that otherwise pitiless Adem cannot bear losing. Dennis Harvey, Variety, 5 Feb. 2024 No one can walk the bridge without respect, holding on carefully to the ropes on either side, aware of the beauty and the depths and rocks, the pitiless desert all around. Ben Okri, The New York Review of Books, 18 Jan. 2024 The Nobel-winning poet was pitiless to herself, yet fiercely generous toward her students. Amy X. Wang, New York Times, 22 Dec. 2023 The abolition of a pitiless world through pitilessness. Rumaan Alam, The New Republic, 21 June 2023 With her lion mane and second-skin catsuit, Jayne, who tries hard to affect pitiless self-interest on the series, seemed smaller, near to sweet. Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 17 Nov. 2023 More important, the anguish, the fury, and the deceit that the affair unleashes—and the pitiless precision with which Breillat films them—provide a surer and clearer judgment on the action. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pitiless.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pitiless was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near pitiless

Cite this Entry

“Pitiless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pitiless. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pitiless

adjective
piti·​less ˈpit-i-ləs How to pronounce pitiless (audio)
ˈpit-ᵊl-əs
: having no pity : harsh, cruel
pitilessly adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on pitiless

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