compassionless

adjective

Definition of compassionlessnext
as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings shocked by the mother's compassionless treatment of her autistic child

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 compassionless Oscar and Birdie’s oily son Leo (a perceptive Christian Cooper) seems headed in the direction of his father, with his compassionless attitude toward life. — Oline Cogdill, Sun Sentinel, 13 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for compassionless
  1. ruthless
  2. merciless
  3. stony
Adjective
  • Communism’s pure economic theory is now rarely practiced anywhere — even if ruthless leaders in hybrid capitalist economies like China and Russia have retained the authoritarian iron fists of their predecessors.
    — Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 8 July 2026
  • Otherwise, Kail sticks closely to the template established for him, recreating every scene and sequence from the first movie with ruthless fidelity and adding essentially no departures of any significance.
    — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 8 July 2026
Definition of ruthless
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.
    — David Denby, New Yorker, 21 June 2026
  • Humility is the posture; the standard is merciless.
    — Luis E. Romero, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026
Definition of 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.
    — Emily Cox, ARTnews.com, 22 May 2026
  • Instead of looking like a sleek urban loft, the room can quickly start to feel cold, stony, and impersonal.
    — Natasha Bazika, Martha Stewart, 9 May 2026
Definition of stony

Browse Nearby Words

compassionating
compassionless
compatibilities
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Compassionless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/compassionless. Accessed 13 Jul. 2026.

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