merciless

adjective

mer·ci·less ˈmər-si-ləs

Synonyms of merciless next

: having or showing no mercy : pitiless

the merciless killing of innocent people

mercilessly adverb

mercilessness noun

Examples of merciless in a Sentence

the merciless killing of innocent people He has been merciless in his criticism of his opponent.

Recent Examples on the Web Don’t Look Away Since October 7, when Hamas, the militant group based in Gaza, led a surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,400 people and claimed 241 hostages, the Israeli government has killed more than 10,000 civilians in Gaza through its merciless carpet bombing. —

Nicole Froio, refinery29.com, 12 Nov. 2023 Its casualties include Todd Fisher, who has uniquely experienced its force as a merciless reaper. —

Ryan Gajewski, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Nov. 2023 After a merciless six-week trial that spring, a jury found that Heard had defamed Depp and awarded the actor $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. —

Nardine Saad, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2023 The merciless Hamas fighters also attacked by storming beaches in motorboats and even swooped into Israeli neighborhoods on motorized paragliders, Israeli Defense Forces said. —

Desiree Adib, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2023 Taken by surprise, Israeli authorities vowed a merciless operation to root out Hamas once and for all. —

Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 10 Oct. 2023 The response has been swift and merciless, with politicians and pundits describing Poland as two-faced, disloyal, pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian. —

Marek Magierowski, WSJ, 26 Sep. 2023 While fictional, the merciless world inhabited by the toilers populating Crummey’s work is very reminiscent of my ancestry. —

Hazlitt, 27 Sep. 2023 Movingly plain-spoken, the book wove reams of law, philosophy, social science and theology into Sister Helen’s account of her experience ministering to two men on death row in Louisiana, building a calmly merciless case against the death penalty. —

Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 27 Sep. 2023 See More

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