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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."
Examples of ruthless in a Sentence
Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 21 Apr. 2025
O’Neil had shown a more ruthless streak in dealing with Lemina, stripping the midfielder of the captaincy after those embarrassing post-match scenes at West Ham.
—Steve Madeley, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2025
Elusive professional fixer Ash has his skills put to the
test while protecting whistleblower Sarah Grant from increasingly ruthless corporate
mercenaries in this breathless, New York-set thriller.
—Katcy Stephan, Variety, 16 Apr. 2025
He's been portrayed as a ruthless businessman, an evil scientist, and a vain politician, while actors have played the supervillain with differing strains of campy flash and genuine menace.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 12 Apr. 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 2 May. 2025.
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