ruth

noun

ˈrüth How to pronounce ruth (audio)
Definition of ruthnext
as in kindness
the capacity for feeling for another's unhappiness or misfortune listening to your flippant comments about the homeless, I wonder if you have any ruth

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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 ruth Her sensitive and sublime renderings of such states in her fiction and poetry exemplify this ruth. — Literary Hub, 12 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruth
  1. kindness
  2. sympathy
  3. compassion
  4. heart
  5. pity
  6. mercy
Noun
  • Following her death, Eloise’s family established the Living for Lulu Foundation to continue her legacy by encouraging kindness and helping animals in need.
    — Lauren Paige Richeson, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026
  • My mother, Cynthia, taught me to go through life with both relentless ambition and kindness.
    — Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of kindness
Noun
  • With a hot war raging in Ukraine, these journalists don’t want to ask for anyone’s sympathy, which in turn heightens their alienation and frustration.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2026
  • But, again, sympathy with either club should be in short supply.
    — Oliver Kay, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of sympathy
Noun
  • Think of fear as a request for your attention and compassion.
    — Marisa G. Franco, CNBC, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Humans may be needed for tasks that only humans can perform, like holding patients’ hands, but doctors may not be best for compassion and empathy.
    — Abe Baker-Butler, STAT, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of compassion
Noun
  • But your heart and lungs are only delivering the oxygen to the muscle.
    — Sarah Shephard, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Colorado went into Georgia Tech — playing in its first sellout home-opener in 20 years — and ripped their hearts out.
    — Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of heart
Noun
  • Years later, Nelson is married to Linda (pity poor Tatyana Ali, saddled with an almost comically underwritten, saintly-supportive-partner role) and is raising her son as his own.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Maceta, moved to pity at times, would put an ear to his friend’s chest and hear how Ruiz’s heart leaped about inside his body, as though trying to fly apart.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of pity
Noun
  • The fungibility of the hands is a reprieve from the book’s scenes of violence and its fallout, from the endless assigning of blame and the apportioning out of mercy or destruction.
    — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Historians say the horns may have been blown to scare evil spirits, to proclaim victories, or as a way to encourage divine mercy.
    — Lois K. Solomon, Sun Sentinel, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of mercy

Browse Nearby Words

rut
ruth
ruthful
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Cite this Entry

“Ruth.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruth. Accessed 12 Sep. 2026.

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