as in cruelty
disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others
the gung ho heartlessness with which the secret police tortured prisoners was beyond belief
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Recent Examples of heartlessness
The lives of the two children in the story, aged fourteen and four, are portrayed as being as fleeting as the fireflies, and the story is an unsentimental and unflinching account with moments of both tenderness and heartlessness.
—
Ginny Tapley Takemori
september 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
Ginny Tapley Takemori
september 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heartlessness
Noun
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Vasquez was charged with second-degree cruelty to juveniles and negligent homicide.—
Angel Saunders,
People.com,
9 Sep. 2025
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But that tale of someone brought into a world that treated him with cruelty and contempt never left him.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The brutality of the Ukrainian frontline The challenges facing foreign volunteer fighters on the battlefield extend well beyond their legal label.—
Rebecca Johns,
Miami Herald,
6 Sep. 2025
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For a long time, the book was consider unadaptable due to its brutality.—
Emily Zemler,
Rolling Stone,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Heartlessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heartlessness. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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