1
as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
an affectless analysis of the cost of the war purely in pecuniary terms
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stoic
not feeling or showing emotion
the accused remained affectless throughout the long trial
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 affectless
Avoiding romance and melodrama, deBoer writes in an affectless register that mirrors Alice’s dissociation.
—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
The clip is entirely affectless—an authentic moment of pure lyricism.
—
John Seabrook,
The New Yorker,
5 Dec. 2022
Skarsgård does well with the character’s daytime ambiguity (tight-faced, affectless) and nighttime plotting (observant, physically lithe).
—
Vulture,
27 Apr. 2022
And the key to the mystery — not the solution to it but the dark center of it — is Swinton Byrne’s quiet, reserved, at times almost affectless performance.
—
New York Times,
7 Dec. 2021
See All Example Sentences for affectless
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
The clip is entirely affectless—an authentic moment of pure lyricism.
—
John Seabrook,
The New Yorker,
5 Dec. 2022
Skarsgård does well with the character’s daytime ambiguity (tight-faced, affectless) and nighttime plotting (observant, physically lithe).
—
Vulture,
27 Apr. 2022
And the key to the mystery — not the solution to it but the dark center of it — is Swinton Byrne’s quiet, reserved, at times almost affectless performance.
—
New York Times,
7 Dec. 2021
See All Example Sentences for affectless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for affectless
Adjective
-
Natural selection is usually ruthless about weeding out traits with no function.
-
Supergirl builds to a final showdown with Krem of the Yellow Hills, the ruthless Brigands leader who murdered Ruthye’s family and poisoned Krypto early in the film.
Adjective
-
The most remarkable performance in the film, however, may be that of real-life counselor Annette Deao, whose firm hand and sympathetic guidance lend Union County its stoic nature.
-
Vladimir Petković, the usually stoic 62-year-old coach of Algeria, said he got goosebumps from the way Lawrence has treated his team.
Adjective
-
The poem that precedes it, the Iliad, is a cruel and beautiful work, the ultimate story of war; the Odyssey has its warlike passages, but its central energies seem almost commonplace beside the merciless fury of Achilles.
-
Humility is the posture; the standard is merciless.
Adjective
-
Oscar Wilde, for example, reposes beneath a hulking deity whose iconoclastic castration, back in 1961, did little to restrain pilgrims seeking to smear red lips across his stony physique.
-
Instead of looking like a sleek urban loft, the room can quickly start to feel cold, stony, and impersonal.
Adjective
-
Nilsson’s depiction of bodies past their prime conjures not the pitiless naturalism of Joan Semmel or Alice Neel, but something friskier, more delighted.
-
As with the others, the pitiless treatment only ends when they’re slaughtered.
Cite this Entry
“Affectless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/affectless. Accessed 4 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
