RUTHLESSNESS Synonyms: 63 Similar and Opposite Words

ruthlessness

noun

Definition of ruthlessness

as in mercilessness

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Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of ruthlessness 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 The danger occurs if that ruthlessness veers into institutional coldness. — James McNicholas, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026 But this time, the Players entered the palace fully aware of the format’s twists and traps, armed with strategies, stronger instincts, and a ruthlessness that caught me off guard. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 7 Aug. 2026 Russia’s war on Ukraine has become a grinding tally of raw numbers, and Kyiv is executing its strategy with the ruthlessness of a corporate efficiency expert, according to the RAND think tank. — Jason Ma, Fortune, 3 Aug. 2026 Directed by Martin Scorsese and set in the late 80s and early 90s, the movie starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort, an uninhibited young stockbroker who becomes enamored by the excess and ruthlessness of Wall Street. — Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 19 July 2026 Something in the liberal heart recoils in the face of righteous ruthlessness. — David Brooks, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026 The series follows a fictionalized version of the Westies, a small Irish-American gang in the mid- to late-20th century whose ruthlessness and brutality gave them an outsized reputation. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 2 July 2026 Released at the tail end of Reaganomics, Carpenter’s most politically forward thriller now feels like a decoder ring for ’80s-era greed, detachment, complacency and ruthlessness. — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruthlessness

Noun

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

Definition of mercilessness

Noun

The doc is similarly unflinching in showing the horrific scene from 1900 in which Donald Sutherland’s sadistic fascist murders a young boy in a shockingly callous way, while Laura Betti as his equal in cruelty dissolves into blood-curdling cackles.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2026
Shooting a wild animal with a pellet gun and causing needless suffering is also within the scope of a felony animal cruelty charge.

— Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of cruelty

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

However, only Atef Najib, Assad’s cousin, a security chief infamous for his brutality, is likely to face execution, the rest having been tried in absentia.

— The Week UK, TheWeek, 6 Sep. 2026
If Wayne, a fictional character, were a more solid creation, the movie could better explore the issue of whether answering racist brutality in kind is more effective than relying on an inadequate system.

— Alison Willmore, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of brutality

Noun

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
The barbarity of the institution, meanwhile, is self-evident—but rarely does an author present its abuses so powerfully and vividly.

— The Atlantic, The Atlantic, 14 May 2026

Definition of barbarity

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

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Synonyms of ruthlessness

noun

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