as in mercilessness
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Recent Examples of ruthlessness
This was the Netherlands being defeated by a less flamboyant side, but one which offered technical skill, tactical quality and a sense of disciplined ruthlessness and defensive quality that all winning sides must possess.
—
Michael Cox, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
Republicans, however, are now wielding state power with growing precision and ruthlessness.
—Time, 10 Sep. 2025
Mallett wants to expand her business without that ruthlessness.
—La Risa R. Lynch, jsonline.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Rupert Murdoch has built a record and a reputation for ruthlessness.
—David Folkenflik, NPR, 8 Sep. 2025
But expert Sung Yoon Lee believes that Kim Yo-jong is positioning herself to take over, given her reputation for ruthlessness, arrogance and ambition.
—Natasha Lindstaedt, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Mexico's fastest-rising cartel, the Jalisco New Generation gang, has a reputation for ruthlessness and violence unlike any since the fall of the old Zetas cartel.
—Sonam Sheth
gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Aug. 2025
Michael Cox, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
Republicans, however, are now wielding state power with growing precision and ruthlessness.
—Time, 10 Sep. 2025
Mallett wants to expand her business without that ruthlessness.
—La Risa R. Lynch, jsonline.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Rupert Murdoch has built a record and a reputation for ruthlessness.
—David Folkenflik, NPR, 8 Sep. 2025
But expert Sung Yoon Lee believes that Kim Yo-jong is positioning herself to take over, given her reputation for ruthlessness, arrogance and ambition.
—Natasha Lindstaedt, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Mexico's fastest-rising cartel, the Jalisco New Generation gang, has a reputation for ruthlessness and violence unlike any since the fall of the old Zetas cartel.
—Sonam Sheth
gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruthlessness
Noun
-
Brooks explained the white and brown pup was rescued from a cruelty case in South Carolina.—
Lucy Notarantonio,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
-
The cruelty, after all, is the point.—
Liam Quinn,
PEOPLE,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
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On that day, Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.—
Amira El-Fekki,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
-
The Guardsmen in McPherson Square, ferried there by U.S. Park Service personnel, seemed a world removed from crime and savagery and scum.—
Tom Vanden Brook,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
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
Noun
-
The series begins before Gein has ever killed, in 1945, as dawning awareness of death camps in Europe fills the air with sadism and conspiracy thinking.—
Daniel D'Addario,
Variety,
30 Sep. 2025
-
The invading parasite is a culture of hate and paranoia and sadism — mass hysteria as sanctioned by the government that is supposed to protect you.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Her name is Christa Gail Pike, who was convicted of killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer three decades ago in a case that made national headlines at the time for its brutality.—
Phillip M. Bailey,
USA Today,
3 Oct. 2025
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Safdie’s presentation of these comments foregrounds Mark’s understanding of what’s profound, and profoundly disturbing, about mixed martial arts, and perhaps all martial arts—the channelling and professionalizing of brutality.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In the world of The Bone Temple, the infected are no longer the greatest threat to survival — the inhumanity of the survivors can be stranger and more terrifying.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
23 Sep. 2025
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In the world of The Bone Temple, the infected are no longer the greatest threat to survival—the inhumanity of the survivors can be stranger and more terrifying.—
Jennifer Ouellette,
ArsTechnica,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Amid all the barbarity for barbarity’s sake, Jonsson carries the film with a deep well of unspoken regret.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
12 Sep. 2025
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Netanyahu is the excuse for staying silent about Israeli barbarity in Palestine.—
Uriel Kon
September 2,
Literary Hub,
2 Sep. 2025
Noun
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And the ferocity of their competition was seemingly undimmed by any notion of team loyalty, as the two drivers clashed at the start of the Singapore Grand Prix.—
Issy Ronald,
CNN Money,
5 Oct. 2025
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Today, as climate change makes weather more difficult to predict, and as extreme weather events increase in frequency and ferocity, meteorologists are hoping another big technological breakthrough will give them an edge.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
3 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ruthlessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruthlessness. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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