MERCILESSNESS Synonyms: 63 Similar and Opposite Words

mercilessness

noun

as in ruthlessness

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 mercilessness And though Din Djarian has a touch of revenge-thriller mercilessness about him, that’s more than offset by the fact that his apprentice and symbolic son is Grogu, an infant member of the same humanoid-alien species as Yoda. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 19 May 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mercilessness

Noun

There's a tricky tonal balance in treating the lawyers' gasp-inducing ruthlessness as entertaining and even amusing while also allowing its consequences to be clear.

— Linda Holmes, NPR, 3 Oct. 2026
The army Mladic created to fight in Bosnia was a model of ruthlessness, daring and brutality in the Serb warrior tradition, once prized in the life-or-death partisan struggle against the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia in World War Two.

— Ivana Sekularac, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of ruthlessness

Noun

Luhansk, this terra incognita of the independent Ukraine, is described in almost carnivalesque terms, but this is a carnival infused with absurdity and even cruelty.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2026
Artistaya Arriyawongsa directed and co-wrote the film, which uses the supernatural to probe online cruelty and the public shaming it fuels.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of cruelty

Noun

As attendees, including Ariana DeBose and Patricia Clarkson, tucked into sweet Forelle pears and a main course of Branzino, the atmosphere was decidedly more serene than the savagery witnessed earlier on stage.

— Christopher Barnard, Vogue, 23 Sep. 2026
Others are inclined to rank evils according to the amount of savagery evident in the perpetrator, not to the damage inflicted on the world.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of savagery

Noun

These young graduates start out naive about the heartlessness of the corporate world and harbor illusory hopes for success in unforgiving professions.

— George Packer, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2026
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

Definition of heartlessness

Noun

What wasn’t new was the continuation of the kind of barbarity that dominated conflicts of recent memory, from Cambodia to Rwanda.

— David Friend, Vanity Fair, 10 Sep. 2026
The report comes as the RSF lays siege to El Obeid, where analysts say similar barbarity is imminent.

— Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 9 July 2026

Definition of barbarity

Noun

School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, might well come closest in approach to Kimberly Belflower’s urgent John Proctor Is The Villain in its insistence that homeroom sadism doesn’t just spring from hormones or reindeer game competition.

— Greg Evans, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2026
Lagioia’s book goes into disturbing detail about what came next; suffice it to say that Luca’s murder tested the bounds of sadism.

— Jay Weissberg, Variety, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of sadism

Noun

Notable releases include a novel about police brutality, the return of Barbara Kingsolver, 1980s fiction and a deep dive into the very real specter of artificial intelligence.

— Theara Coleman, TheWeek, 8 Oct. 2026
The government suspended the use of stun grenades after a 15-year-old boy's hand was blown off earlier in the week, fueling accusations of police brutality.

— Jenni Reid, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of brutality

Browse Nearby Words

mercilessly

mercilessness

mercurial

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Mercilessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mercilessness. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of mercilessness

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

outlandish

Popular in Grammar & Usage

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Popular

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

Games & Quizzes