Synonyms of merciless

merciless

adjective

ˈmər-si-ləs 

as in ruthless

having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings

she is a merciless competitor at board games of any kind

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ruthless
• pitiless
• stony
• brutal
• hard
• oppressive
• harsh
• unmerciful
• cruel
• abusive
• remorseless
• heartless
• callous
• vicious
• inhuman
• malicious
• hateful
• compassionless
• unsparing
• tough
• stern
• inhumane
• soulless
• unfeeling
• obdurate
• take-no-prisoners
• insensitive
• hard-hearted
• unsympathetic
• uncharitable
• grim
• cold-blooded
• insensate
• thick-skinned
• slash-and-burn
• severe
• savage
• indurate
• affectless
• case-hardened
• stoney
• pachydermatous
• desensitized
• hard-boiled
• thoughtless
• uncaring
• ironhearted
• rough
• heedless
• mean
• unthinking
• stonyhearted
• ungentle
• unfriendly
• boorish
• inconsiderate
• spiteful
• malevolent
• unloving
• virulent
• cold
• disagreeable
• rough-and-tumble
• heavy-handed
• brutish
• barbarous
• surly
• ironfisted
• acrimonious
• bestial
• jackbooted
• ill-tempered
• sledgehammer
• rancorous
• ill-natured
• ironhanded
• hard-bitten
• evil-minded
• austere
• knock-down-and-drag-out
• frosty
• knock-down, drag-out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sympathetic
• warm
• sensitive
• merciful
• gentle
• humane
• compassionate
• charitable
• benevolent
• kind
• kindly
• mild
• tender
• lenient
• friendly
• kindhearted
• indulgent
• gracious
• softhearted
• warmhearted
• tenderhearted
• cordial
• benignant
• loving
• tolerant
• affectionate
• good-natured
• understanding
• clement
• fond
• good-tempered

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of merciless

Here, under the merciless South Florida sun, seeds of hope were planted again Sunday with Vrabel’s first win. —Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 16 Sep. 2025

Some 445 million years ago, Earth plummeted into a devastating ice age and mass extinction, followed by an even more merciless rebound back into the greenhouse hundreds of thousands of years later. —Peter Brannen, Quanta Magazine, 15 Sep. 2025

If Hollow Knight was demanding, Silksong is merciless. —Keller Gordon, NPR, 8 Sep. 2025

In 1918, Bolshevik secret police forced Anastasia Romanov and her imperial family into a damp basement to face a merciless firing squad. —Ashlee Conour, Chicago Tribune, 2 Sep. 2025