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If someone can be ruthless, can one also be ruthful?
Ruthless can be defined as "without ruth" or "having no ruth." So what, then, is ruth? The noun ruth, which is now considerably less common than ruthless, means "compassion for the misery of another," "sorrow for one's own faults," or "remorse." And, just as it is possible for one to be without ruth, it is also possible to be full of ruth. The antonym of ruthless is ruthful, meaning "full of ruth" or "tender." Ruthful can also mean "full of sorrow" or "causing sorrow." Ruth can be traced back to the Middle English noun ruthe, itself from ruen, meaning "to rue" or "to feel regret, remorse, or sorrow."
Synonyms of ruthless
Examples of ruthless in a Sentence
Dan Perry, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025
From filmmaker Jo Southwell (Call the Midwife), The Catch follows a ruthless culinary showdown as a brilliant but obsessive chef journeys to Cornwall in search of the rarest seafood of all — a mermaid.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 30 Oct. 2025
When a young woman (Michie Tomizawa) becomes the target of a powerful vampire lord, Count Lee (Seizô Katô) — first in a ruthless countryside attack, later an abduction — D takes it upon himself to save her.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Part of the threat that these men posed was their ability to speak like reasonable politicians while effectively running a ruthless terrorist campaign.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ruthless
Cite this Entry
“Ruthless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ruthless. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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