as in ruthless
not guided by or showing a concern for what is right
cutthroat business practices intended to drive competitors out of business
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in assassin
a person who kills another person
while traveling the ancient Silk Road, traders were constant prey to cutthroats and thieves
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cutthroat
Renee Dudley, ProPublica, 18 Mar. 2026
On the 536th Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams speak with Brad D’Arco, a prep school admissions consultant, about the cutthroat world of athletics recruiting at prep schools.
—Scott Soshnick, Sportico.com, 17 Mar. 2026
Meg Walters, Glamour, 2 Mar. 2026
She’s played the quiet game and the aggressive game; she’s been a cutthroat Black Widow and a nurturing Mama Bear; she’s made big moves that backfired, and she’s been eliminated with no votes against her.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cutthroat
Adjective
Rogers had ushered the Justice Department into the cloud, and Microsoft had gained a significant foothold in the cutthroat market for the federal government’s cloud computing business.
—Renee Dudley, ProPublica, 18 Mar. 2026
On the 536th Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams speak with Brad D’Arco, a prep school admissions consultant, about the cutthroat world of athletics recruiting at prep schools.
—Scott Soshnick, Sportico.com, 17 Mar. 2026
Noun
After all, the end of season 3 saw the downfall of Pierpoint & Co., the fictional bank that our cast of cutthroat finance mavericks called home.
—Meg Walters, Glamour, 2 Mar. 2026
She’s played the quiet game and the aggressive game; she’s been a cutthroat Black Widow and a nurturing Mama Bear; she’s made big moves that backfired, and she’s been eliminated with no votes against her.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cutthroat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cutthroat
Adjective
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Typewriters, stationery, fine-art museums, the quintessential impressionist painter—these are all associated with taste, beauty, and craft, as well as with intentionality and care, the opposite of the ruthless technological efficiency that repels many from generative AI.—
Matteo Wong,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
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Even if the film doesn’t co-sign her ideology, Ursula is the most nuanced of the ruthless killers, and Gellar is adept at digging into the character’s ambiguity and shifting priorities.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Lillian Cross, a doctor’s wife, ended up standing near the would-be assassin.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
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She’s also consumed by vengeful rage, much of it directed at the unstable assassin Bullseye (Wilson Bethel).—
Bob Strauss,
Houston Chronicle,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The Michigan State Police said Robert Wilson, 44, of Gaylord, was arrested on March 25 and lodged at the Otsego County Jail on one charge each of accosting a minor for immoral purposes and using a computer to commit a crime.—
Paula Wethington,
CBS News,
27 Mar. 2026
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When the status quo is fundamentally evil and dysfunctional, then Trimming is immoral.—
David Brooks,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Sometimes darkly humorous, sometimes strangely heartbreaking, this immersive storytelling experience is Edgar Allan Poe for the modern age; a heart-to-bleeding-heart with madmen, murderers and monsters all dying to tell their story.—
William Earl,
Variety,
25 Mar. 2026
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The parolee list features a man who killed his girlfriend’s 22-month-old daughter, and a first-degree murderer who fatally shot a restaurant owner during a robbery.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
21 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Smuggling — sometimes by rope, sometimes with the help of corrupt jail guards — has long been a problem at the troubled federal jail, which has been plagued by violence, horrific conditions and severe staffing shortages for years.—
John Annese,
New York Daily News,
29 Mar. 2026
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No corrupt leader enriching himself and the Epstein class buddies.—
Diego Parrado,
Vanity Fair,
29 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Alleged serial killer Rex Heuermann is expected to plead guilty at an April 8 court appearance, and admit to killing women and dumping their bodies near Gilgo Beach along with other locations on Long Island, according to a source familiar with the case.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
27 Mar. 2026
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That bottle of conventional weed killer in your garage is probably doing more than clearing dandelions.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Supporters hope that the bill, which is similar to ordinances in Denver, Fort Collins, Aurora, and other local jurisdictions, will prevent the sale of puppies bred by unscrupulous puppy mills where dogs and cats are confined in tiny cages bearing one litter after another.—
Krista Kafer,
Denver Post,
27 Mar. 2026
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In the 1995 film, Carrey’s pet detective character hides inside a fake rhinocerous to spy on unscrupulous types in a safari setting.—
Dewayne Bevil,
The Orlando Sentinel,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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How pathetically far this blithering, unprincipled piece of trash has gone to endanger other lives, to expressly distract and deflect from his own wicked deeds, and to further benefit his grifting family’s larcenously enlarged bounties.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
8 Mar. 2026
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In every era a certain kind of unprincipled demagogue driven by an insatiable need for attention and a sense of what will capture the public’s imagination rises to the fore.—
Mark Lilla,
The New York Review of Books,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cutthroat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cutthroat. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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