1
as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
a heartless boss who would fire people for missing work, even if they were sick as a dog
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cruel
having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others
his heartless whipping of runaway slaves virtually to the point of death shocked even other slave owners
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of heartless
Democrats saw an opportunity to portray her as selfish and heartless, willing to manipulate the legal system at the expense of grieving children.
—
Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
The first four episodes of season 2 crept onto Netflix earlier this month, throwing our favorite heartless teenager (played by Jenna Ortega) headfirst into a new mystery, complete with secret experiments, ravenous zombies, and a spat of unsettling bird murders.
—Allison Degrushe Published, EW.com, 15 Aug. 2025
The heartless subway mugger who slashed and badly wounded a woman on an empty Manhattan train car will stay locked up following his arrest late last week.
—Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2025
All of that could be achieved, in a bipartisan fashion, without this massive and heartless overreach — and without these crushing deficits.
—Johnny Olszewski, Baltimore Sun, 9 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heartless
Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
The first four episodes of season 2 crept onto Netflix earlier this month, throwing our favorite heartless teenager (played by Jenna Ortega) headfirst into a new mystery, complete with secret experiments, ravenous zombies, and a spat of unsettling bird murders.
—Allison Degrushe Published, EW.com, 15 Aug. 2025
The heartless subway mugger who slashed and badly wounded a woman on an empty Manhattan train car will stay locked up following his arrest late last week.
—Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2025
All of that could be achieved, in a bipartisan fashion, without this massive and heartless overreach — and without these crushing deficits.
—Johnny Olszewski, Baltimore Sun, 9 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heartless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heartless
Adjective
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Those hoping to snatch a home in this busy period faced limited options on the market, as the country’s developers had chronically underbuilt compared to demand in the years following the subprime mortgage crisis, leading to ruthless bidding wars and climbing home values.—
Giulia Carbonaro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
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Hedda orchestrates a ruthless game of manipulation, where lust, jealousy and betrayal collide.—
Patrick Hipes,
Deadline,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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In Pahani’s 2006 award-winning comedy Offside, about the cruel cultural chains binding Iranian women, a group of young women attempt to gain entry to a stadium to watch a World Cup qualifying match between Iran and Japan.—
Baz Bamigboye,
Deadline,
24 Oct. 2025
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There is no reason to be cruel to people.—
Sigal Ratner-Arias,
Billboard,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Just clean, merciless, fundamental football.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
19 Oct. 2025
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Chat members were merciless in their rhetoric against fellow Young Republicans in competing factions of the organization.—
Matthew Kelly,
Kansas City Star,
15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Recently, the vast majority have been coming from Sudan, embroiled in a brutal civil war which has displaced millions.—
Mick Krever,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
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Musically, Lee took on the air of a woman revealing intimate truths about herself one year at a time, shedding layers as a way of rewarding patience with honesty, no matter how brutal.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Needless to say, the sanctions, Trump’s criticism of Putin and the cancelation of in-person talks, elicited a stony silence from Moscow on Thursday.—
Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
23 Oct. 2025
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Madewell Crewneck Cutaway Vest A stony tan vest might just be the sleeper hit of the season.—
Rosie Marder,
Travel + Leisure,
18 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The boos were booming and vicious.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
3 Nov. 2025
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This ad hoc ecosystem of technology is creating a vicious cycle where the very technology meant to solve problems ends up creating more.—
Daniel Kendzior,
Fortune,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The Edmund Fitzgerald was caught in a savage storm with hurricane-force winds around 100-mile-an-hour and waves up to 60 feet, crashing down on the freighter every four to eight seconds, says Bacon.—
NPR,
NPR,
6 Nov. 2025
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Here, spiritual infractions are met with savage physical punishment and some of the more grotesque images in recent horror memory (which, as the genre has become ever more popular and emboldened, is seriously saying something).—
Dennis Perkins,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Heartless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heartless. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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