heartlessly

adverb

as in ruthlessly

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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 heartlessly Victim Nyron Shaw’s father said the driver who mowed his son down last year in Ocean Hill a day before Independence Day should face the maximum penalty for allegedly driving twice the speed limit and heartlessly taking off, leaving his son to die. — Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News, 8 Apr. 2026 In the process, Joel heartlessly killed some innocent people, including medical professionals. — EW.com, 26 Aug. 2025 There is a troubling suggestion of abuse, implying that Jack might have been ill-treated by his mom (and saved by Helen), rather than heartlessly abandoned. — Tomris Laffly, Variety, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heartlessly
  1. ruthlessly
  2. mercilessly
  3. callously
  4. pitilessly
  5. unmercifully
  6. inhumanely
  7. insensitively
  8. tyrannically
Adverb
  • The Joker, Batman movies Batman’s greatest adversary is ruthlessly, functionally insane.
    — Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The first at Lord's was only 110 on Friday, and two days later England's all-seam attack was ruthlessly picking apart the top order again.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of ruthlessly
Adverb
  • This is no small feat in a city where working class locals are priced out mercilessly to make way for the ultra-wealthy here to work on their winter tans.
    — Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Despite her clear influence, Rico was mercilessly heckled by Carti fans during her performance at the Portland tour stop.
    — Mehan Jayasuriya, Pitchfork, 24 July 2026
Definition of mercilessly
Adverb
  • The biggest fear for people who want to see books preserved through the training process is that AI firms will callously pulp rare books that can never be replaced.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Conventional wisdom callously had it that audiences might never return, especially after the pandemic in 2020 was followed in short order in 2023 by two prolonged industrywide strikes.
    — Adam Aron, Variety, 29 July 2026
Definition of callously
Adverb
  • The first hour, set at a resort that’s like a singles cruise through the Twilight Zone (or Bachelor in Paradise beamed in from a brutal alternate universe), contains some of the most pitilessly funny scenes of the filmmaker’s career.
    — A.A. Dowd, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2025
Definition of pitilessly
Adverb
  • Any party member who seeks to defy his wishes risks losing a seat, being unmercifully gaslit, or trashed on Truth Social.
    — Rob Crilly, The Washington Examiner, 22 May 2026
  • Now my son is dead after suffering unmercifully.
    — Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 6 Feb. 2026
Definition of unmercifully
Adverb
  • Walter’s ties to immigrant detention resulted in protests from members of the Los Angeles community, including many Dodgers fans, who felt that ICE inhumanely targeted them.
    — Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
  • In May 2025, the zoo posted a video of authorities taking a giraffe and accused them of seizing it inhumanely.
    — Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 22 June 2026
Definition of inhumanely
Adverb
  • Residents were treated carelessly, disrespectfully, insensitively.
    — Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2026
  • In this volatile environment, comments that appear to minimize or frame the shooting insensitively—like Matt Gutman's—can quickly become career-ending.
    — Martha McHardy, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025
Definition of insensitively
Adverb
  • Gulliver’s third voyage takes him to the flying island of Laputa, which rules tyrannically over several territories situated below.
    — Dónal Gill, The Dial, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of tyrannically

Browse Nearby Words

heartless
heartlessly
heartlessness
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Cite this Entry

“Heartlessly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heartlessly. Accessed 15 Sep. 2026.

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