RUTHLESSNESS Synonyms: 63 Similar and Opposite Words

ruthlessness

noun

Definition of ruthlessness

as in mercilessness

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Recent Examples of ruthlessness Chelsea have attempted 11 shots inside the first seven minutes of games, more than any other side, but their fast starts have also been underpinned by a clinical ruthlessness in front of goal. — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2026 There's a tricky tonal balance in treating the lawyers' gasp-inducing ruthlessness as entertaining and even amusing while also allowing its consequences to be clear. — Linda Holmes, NPR, 3 Oct. 2026 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 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

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

Luhansk, this terra incognita of the independent Ukraine, is described in almost carnivalesque terms, but this is a carnival infused with absurdity and even cruelty.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2026
Artistaya Arriyawongsa directed and co-wrote the film, which uses the supernatural to probe online cruelty and the public shaming it fuels.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of cruelty

Noun

After the Nuremberg tribunal, the top Nazi leadership were rightly hanged for their crimes, yet even these were not open for public viewing, because that is savagery.

— New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 14 Oct. 2026
As attendees, including Ariana DeBose and Patricia Clarkson, tucked into sweet Forelle pears and a main course of Branzino, the atmosphere was decidedly more serene than the savagery witnessed earlier on stage.

— Christopher Barnard, Vogue, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of savagery

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

School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, might well come closest in approach to Kimberly Belflower’s urgent John Proctor Is The Villain in its insistence that homeroom sadism doesn’t just spring from hormones or reindeer game competition.

— Greg Evans, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2026
Lagioia’s book goes into disturbing detail about what came next; suffice it to say that Luca’s murder tested the bounds of sadism.

— Jay Weissberg, Variety, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of sadism

Noun

Notable releases include a novel about police brutality, the return of Barbara Kingsolver, 1980s fiction and a deep dive into the very real specter of artificial intelligence.

— Theara Coleman, TheWeek, 8 Oct. 2026
The government suspended the use of stun grenades after a 15-year-old boy's hand was blown off earlier in the week, fueling accusations of police brutality.

— Jenni Reid, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of brutality

Noun

What wasn’t new was the continuation of the kind of barbarity that dominated conflicts of recent memory, from Cambodia to Rwanda.

— David Friend, Vanity Fair, 10 Sep. 2026
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

Definition of barbarity

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“Ruthlessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruthlessness. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of ruthlessness

noun

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