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
The fragile skeleton of her ego threatened to snap under the pressure of the animal forces that pressed down on her consciousness, her narrative mind sagging and distended beneath pitiless and grandiose feeling.
—
Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 11 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
Each failure rekindled the gravitational pull of an existential, pitiless struggle.
—Hussein Agha, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pitiless
Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 11 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
Each failure rekindled the gravitational pull of an existential, pitiless struggle.
—Hussein Agha, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pitiless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pitiless
Adjective
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Lydia, naturally, has her own reasons for pairing Agnes and Daisy together, evolving from a ruthless zealot and disciplinarian in Handmaid’s Tale into a kind of double agent looking to overthrow Gilead from within the hallowed halls of power in Testaments, as the finale set her up to do.—
Max Gao,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Mar. 2026
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After enduring a tough patch in business, fate changes his course, turning him into El Serpiente, a ruthless political strategist.—
Anna Marie de la Fuente,
Variety,
3 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Waltz lends a slimy charisma to the merciless SS colonel, who gets a satisfying comeuppance via carving knife.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
4 Mar. 2026
-
These are two of the most conniving, merciless people on television, and they’re bonded by the twin desire to be more like the other.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
High Street began to slope upward, and the terrain became stonier around the sides of the road as Revere and his horse, Brown Beauty, ascended Rock Hill.—
Kostya Kennedy,
Time,
16 Feb. 2026
-
The area is populated with stony terraces and narrow streets where bistros serve good Italian food (this being so close to the Italian border) and markets to shop for artisanal items.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pitiless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pitiless. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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