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
Yet the very readiness with which the hard-hearted General Tilney believes this account suggests that he is used to reliable reports of other people’s wealth.
—
Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2025
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$AP Rocky), the super at the motel, befriends her but gets little to show for it but insult and injury.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 7 Feb. 2025
The hard-hearted treatment of men is on full display throughout Cecot.
—David Culver, CNN, 6 Nov. 2024
In the face of such terror, even hard-hearted Sam has to crumble.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 27 June 2024
Technically Shaw is a mercenary, but not a cynical or hard-hearted one.
—Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 11 Feb. 2024
Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2025
That makes perfect sense to all but the closed-minded or hard-hearted.
—Jim Newton, Mercury News, 27 June 2025
And each registered the other’s contention with the hard-hearted energy of her own physical craving.
—Jim Shepard, New Yorker, 8 June 2025
Joel, a hard-hearted smuggler, and Ellie, a headstrong teenager immune to the fungal pandemic that’s decimated the planet.
—Adam B. Vary, Variety, 5 Mar. 2025
Linda finds her own therapist (Conan O’Brien) insufferably hard-hearted; one of her own patients (Danielle Macdonald) gets ignored in a moment of crisis; a man named James (A$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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hard-hearted
Adjective
-
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
Adjective
-
And the bracket carnage was swift and merciless.—
Ryan Brennan,
Kansas City Star,
20 Mar. 2026
-
But the quagmire is made worse by the question of what audiences want in an age of abundant at-home entertainment options, tighter budgets and general fatigue from the merciless grind of modern life.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
With a 15 percent slope and soils consisting of shattered rock and very stony loam with a small percentage of clay, the soil is low in organic matter and drains extremely well.—
Mike DeSimone,
Robb Report,
22 Feb. 2026
-
The sculptor, David Adickes, was an Army veteran who'd wanted his stony visages to gleam.—
Danielle Paquette The Washington Post,
Arkansas Online,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hard-hearted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hard-hearted. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.
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