HEARTLESSLY Synonyms: 62 Similar and Opposite Words

heartlessly

adverb

as in ruthlessly

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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

Adverb

Both ruthlessly practical decisions had creative consequences in the series’ futures.

— Neil Oseman, Space.com, 21 Sep. 2026
Defensively, Chelsea ruthlessly exploited loose marking and errors, and the scoreline could have been even more painful without some fine saves by goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce.

— Cerys Jones, New York Times, 14 Sep. 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

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

But his voice tyrannically resounds with sadistic orders and conservative cultural commentary during the second-act flashback scene, in which a fateful day on the set of the show changes the lives of Ronika and Blair.

— Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2026
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

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heartless

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“Heartlessly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heartlessly. Accessed 29 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of heartlessly

adverb

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