as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
gave the beggar in the street a pitiless look and kept on walking
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Recent Examples of pitiless
In his experiences and chronicles of the great ideological battles of the twentieth century, Curzio Malaparte was a shape-shifter—pitiless, clinical, cynical, unsentimental, indifferent to morality and idealism.
—
Leah Downey, The New York Review of Books, 7 Feb. 2026
Told together, the overlapping stories deal with issues of mental illness, lives of quiet desperation, and the pitiless march of time.
—David Morgan, CBS News, 29 Jan. 2026
Facing Russia’s pitiless attacks in Ukraine and a White House seemingly hungry for quick, rather than just, peace, Europe’s lifeboat for Ukraine – one clawed back from the jaws of division and delay – promises an emboldened friend to Kyiv in the uncertain months ahead.
—Clare Sebastian, CNN Money, 19 Dec. 2025
The margin of error, even on the outside of the CFL, UFL and NFL, is pitiless.
—Dan Robson, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pitiless
Leah Downey, The New York Review of Books, 7 Feb. 2026
Told together, the overlapping stories deal with issues of mental illness, lives of quiet desperation, and the pitiless march of time.
—David Morgan, CBS News, 29 Jan. 2026
Facing Russia’s pitiless attacks in Ukraine and a White House seemingly hungry for quick, rather than just, peace, Europe’s lifeboat for Ukraine – one clawed back from the jaws of division and delay – promises an emboldened friend to Kyiv in the uncertain months ahead.
—Clare Sebastian, CNN Money, 19 Dec. 2025
The margin of error, even on the outside of the CFL, UFL and NFL, is pitiless.
—Dan Robson, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pitiless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pitiless
Adjective
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When a ruthless despot steals a billion-dollar fortune, the team is sent to steal it back on what would be for anyone else a suicide mission.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
14 May 2026
-
Assayas offers anecdotes, a feuilleton of tyranny in which the foibles of the mighty and the ruthless reveal the sentimental side of cruelty, the amusement value of ugly deeds, and the polite side of monstrous ideas.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
13 May 2026
Adjective
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Ron White, Joe DeRosa, and Tony’s number one favorite comic, Tony Hinchcliffe (played by Adam Ray), showed the crowd exactly what effortless and absolutely merciless veteran comedy looks like.—
Malina Saval,
Los Angeles Times,
13 May 2026
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Development in the Dotte 🪠 Fish or human feces often wash up in KCK homes during those merciless spring rains.—
Sofi Zeman,
Kansas City Star,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Instead of looking like a sleek urban loft, the room can quickly start to feel cold, stony, and impersonal.—
Natasha Bazika,
Martha Stewart,
9 May 2026
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This was audacious in an area dotted with stony, colonial farmhouses and quaint villages of Federal and Italianate homes.—
Adriane Quinlan,
Curbed,
30 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pitiless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pitiless. Accessed 25 May. 2026.
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