cutthroat 1 of 2

Definition of cutthroatnext

cutthroat

2 of 2

noun

as in assassin
a person who kills another person while traveling the ancient Silk Road, traders were constant prey to cutthroats and thieves

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cutthroat
Adjective
Set in the 1980s, when Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles novels were first released, Rivals is a tongue-in-cheek period drama about the cutthroat world of regional-television franchises, whose characters backstab and smoke and screw with relish. Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 10 June 2026 The show, which follows the cutthroat lives of luxury real estate agents at The Oppenheim Group in Los Angeles, first premiered in 2019. Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 6 June 2026
Noun
There are even early mentions of him that call him a cutthroat who’s had all these common folks come up with stories about him. Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 22 June 2026 But the biggest, by far, is the Lahontan cutthroat. Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 18 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for cutthroat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cutthroat
Adjective
  • Canadian quartet Truck Violence have been sloshing together these subgenres in a ruthless manner for several years now, and their sophomore album and debut for the Flenser aims for even higher drops between those peaks and valleys.
    Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 25 June 2026
  • There was relative peace for 11 years, until a second civil war erupted in 1983, when leaders in Khartoum imposed sharia (Islamic) law and accelerated repression of the southern Christian rebels, which ultimately allowed a ruthless military officer, Omar al-Bashir, to come to power in 1989.
    Janine di Giovanni, Vanity Fair, 25 June 2026
Noun
  • These artisans, with their trade secrets, were kept on Murano, a cluster of islands just across the lagoon from the city, ostensibly as a precaution against fire, though the state would also send assassins after anyone who tried to leave.
    Cal Revely-Calder, New Yorker, 29 June 2026
  • As a pirate assassin and post-apocalyptic warrior, Krem of the Yellow Hills connects with Aries.
    Lisa Stardust, PEOPLE, 26 June 2026
Adjective
  • Court records show that 60-year-old Bradley Kyle Martin, of Dearborn Heights, is charged with using a computer or internet to communicate with another person to commit a crime and accosting children for immoral purposes.
    DeJanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 25 June 2026
  • These monsters—its antitheses—constitute that part of our nature that urges us to be sensible and strong, and that inclines us to see the life drive as trivial, weak, sentimental and immoral.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 June 2026
Noun
  • There can be legitimate debate on immigration, but Trump veers into sinister areas of xenophobia of invading rapists and murderers.
    New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 25 June 2026
  • It was censored in France, and later linked to a real-life murderer.
    SPIN Team, SPIN, 22 June 2026
Adjective
  • In reality, leaders on both sides are corrupt and always on the edge of disaster.
    Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 29 June 2026
  • My career actually focuses on bonding and preventing taxpayers from being on the hook for the failures of bankrupt and corrupt companies.
    Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 28 June 2026
Noun
  • An informant for the FBI quickly identified members of the Ku Klux Klan as her killers.
    Gary Fields, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2026
  • The 16-year-old killer accused of fatally stabbing a young man in the heart of Dyker Beach Park in Brooklyn made an impromptu confession to an off-duty cop just 45 minutes later, prosecutors said Monday.
    John Annese, New York Daily News, 29 June 2026
Adjective
  • The main shell is then salvaged, with the most valuable parts sold by unscrupulous vendors to repair shops and consumers, often via the Internet.
    Jim Gorzelany, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026
  • Indeed, once the former’s economic situation forces them to withdraw from hosting duties just four years before kickoff, the opportunist pulls out every unscrupulous trick in the book to thwart the rival bids from, ironically, Canada and USA.
    Jon O'Brien, Vulture, 10 June 2026
Adjective
  • Ditto his despicable aides and Cabinet members, his unprincipled sycophants and suck-ups.
    Robert B. Reich, Hartford Courant, 9 June 2026
  • Practically all the public’s attention has been on the president and his oddball or vengeful or unprincipled actions.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Cutthroat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cutthroat. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.

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