CUTTHROAT Synonyms: 59 Similar and Opposite Words

cutthroat 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of cutthroat

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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cutthroat

2 of 2

noun

ˈkət-ˌthrōt

as in assassin

a person who kills another person while traveling the ancient Silk Road, traders were constant prey to cutthroats and thieves

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 cutthroat

Adjective

Coming off a cutthroat season that drew the most viewers back to the program in a decade, the competition coming this fall is already gearing up to be one for the books. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 18 June 2026 But, they're also known for being cutthroat and a little controversial. — Matt Reigle Outkick, FOXNews.com, 16 June 2026

Noun

Knowing the history of the cutthroat beer wars of the past is required to understand King Snedley’s unexpected appearance. — Bill Swank, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 June 2026 The show, which follows the cutthroat lives of luxury real estate agents at The Oppenheim Group in Los Angeles, first premiered in 2019. — Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 6 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for cutthroat

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cutthroat

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

Noun

Julie has returned her old ways as an assassin, whilst navigating an equally perilous dating scene, while Edward’s honeymoon with Kayla (Shalom Brune-Franklin) doesn’t go quite as planned.

— Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 6 July 2026
In Ride or Die, Waddingham plays Judith Burton, who lives a double life as an assassin.

— Lexi Lane, PEOPLE, 5 July 2026

Definition of assassin

Adjective

Some rabbinic readings attribute Lot’s hesitation to leave Sodom to his immoral greed and inordinate wealth.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 July 2026
Court records show that 60-year-old Bradley Kyle Martin, of Dearborn Heights, is charged with using a computer or internet to communicate with another person to commit a crime and accosting children for immoral purposes.

— DeJanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 25 June 2026

Definition of immoral

Noun

This psychological thriller stars Guy Pearce as Leonard Shelby, a man with anterograde amnesia struggling to track down his wife’s murderer using a system of tattoos and notes.

— Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026
Deputy Solicitor General Eric Feigin said blocking such searches would handicap police searching for murderers, kidnappers and robbers.

— Bart Jansen, USA Today, 29 June 2026

Definition of murderer

Adjective

Harry and the six other high-profile claimants failed to prove their allegations that the publisher unlawfully obtained private information through methods including private investigators, deception, phone hacking and corrupt payments.

— Erin Hill, PEOPLE, 7 July 2026
After all, this was FIFA, the infamously corrupt governing body of international soccer that seems to function not based on its rulebook but on the whims of a few guys in a room.

— Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 7 July 2026

Definition of corrupt

Noun

The series starred Melissa Roxburgh as a former FBI profiler who leads a team assembled to hunt down escaped killers who fled a mysterious prison.

— Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 6 July 2026
Carla Walker cold case The 1974 murder of 17-year-old Carla Walker in Fort Worth, Texas, went unsolved for more than four decades before advanced DNA testing helped investigators identify her killer.

— Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2026

Definition of killer

Adjective

An unscrupulous politician whose opponent happens to be Virgil’s girlfriend, Marie?

— Chris Hewitt, Boston Herald, 10 July 2026
Surfshark is here to upgrade that experience while protecting your online activity from unscrupulous beings and saving you money, too.

— Stephanie Barnes, PC Magazine, 7 July 2026

Definition of unscrupulous

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“Cutthroat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cutthroat. Accessed 11 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of cutthroat

adjective

noun

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