as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
a hard-hearted brush-off to a homeless man asking for money
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Recent Examples of hard-hearted
That makes perfect sense to all but the closed-minded or hard-hearted.
—
Jim Newton, Mercury News, 27 June 2025
And each registered the other’s contention with the hard-hearted energy of her own physical craving.
—Jim Shepard, New Yorker, 8 June 2025
Joel, a hard-hearted smuggler, and Ellie, a headstrong teenager immune to the fungal pandemic that’s decimated the planet.
—Adam B. Vary, Variety, 5 Mar. 2025
Linda finds her own therapist (Conan O’Brien) insufferably hard-hearted; one of her own patients (Danielle Macdonald) gets ignored in a moment of crisis; a man named James (A$AP Rocky), the super at the motel, befriends her but gets little to show for it but insult and injury.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 7 Feb. 2025
The hard-hearted treatment of men is on full display throughout Cecot.
—David Culver, CNN, 6 Nov. 2024
In the face of such terror, even hard-hearted Sam has to crumble.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 27 June 2024
Technically Shaw is a mercenary, but not a cynical or hard-hearted one.
—Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 11 Feb. 2024
Xi and his team haven’t shown much more concern than the hard-hearted villagers of Lu Xun’s story.
—Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 29 June 2023
Jim Newton, Mercury News, 27 June 2025
And each registered the other’s contention with the hard-hearted energy of her own physical craving.
—Jim Shepard, New Yorker, 8 June 2025
Joel, a hard-hearted smuggler, and Ellie, a headstrong teenager immune to the fungal pandemic that’s decimated the planet.
—Adam B. Vary, Variety, 5 Mar. 2025
Linda finds her own therapist (Conan O’Brien) insufferably hard-hearted; one of her own patients (Danielle Macdonald) gets ignored in a moment of crisis; a man named James (A$AP Rocky), the super at the motel, befriends her but gets little to show for it but insult and injury.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 7 Feb. 2025
The hard-hearted treatment of men is on full display throughout Cecot.
—David Culver, CNN, 6 Nov. 2024
In the face of such terror, even hard-hearted Sam has to crumble.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 27 June 2024
Technically Shaw is a mercenary, but not a cynical or hard-hearted one.
—Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 11 Feb. 2024
Xi and his team haven’t shown much more concern than the hard-hearted villagers of Lu Xun’s story.
—Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 29 June 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hard-hearted
Adjective
-
Sweeney stars as Penny Jo, a South Dakota diner waitress with an appealing smile, an ingratiating stammer, a scarf in her hair, and deep reserves of ruthless ambition.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
22 Aug. 2025
-
Early in his career, Trump apprenticed himself to Roy Cohn, an unprincipled lawyer who taught the young Donald how to gain wealth and influence through ruthless bullying, profane braggadocio, opportunistic bigotry, baseless lawsuits, lying, and more lying.—
Robert B. Reich,
Hartford Courant,
21 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Hollywood loves a polarizing star with a merciless marketing punch that sells.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
17 Aug. 2025
-
There’s little doubt Curtis Windom perpetrated an unjustifiable evil, killing three people, including his girlfriend and her mother, shooting them in merciless fashion on Feb. 7, 1992 in Winter Garden.—
Scott Maxwell,
The Orlando Sentinel,
12 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hard-hearted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hard-hearted. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
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