as in mercilessness
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Recent Examples of ruthlessness
There are shades of a more stylish Terminator to Amos’ ruthlessness, but Balogun never loses track of the mixture of human pain and professionalism that drives him.
—
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2025
The British police, however, were given an indication of Daniel’s ruthlessness.
—Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
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
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2025
The British police, however, were given an indication of Daniel’s ruthlessness.
—Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruthlessness
Noun
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Being tied to the mast of a regime defined by cruelty and graft is a problem of another magnitude entirely.—
Dónal Gill,
The Dial,
28 Oct. 2025
-
After shifting power to the people—like a year-plus bus boycott can do, for example—and getting the government to lessen its corruption, cruelty, injustice or violence, defending those gains is a must.—
Michael Shank,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
With the facial articulation of a silent film star crossed with the savagery of a post-Saw killer, Art went from underground curiosity to horror icon within a decade.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
-
On that day, Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.—
Amira El-Fekki,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 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
-
Leone’s creation has gained a substantial cult following thanks to its throwback grindhouse aesthetics, nauseating practical effects, and unapologetic brutality.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Despite a complete media and communications blackout, making specifics hard to determine, videos trickled out of El Fasher showing the brutality being unleashed on the civilian population.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
30 Oct. 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
-
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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Pritam’s Partition writings offer incisive critiques of the barbarity that became life with borders but also contest notions of belonging from a feminist perspective.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
30 Oct. 2025
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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
Noun
-
In a final weekend push for Democrats gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and New Jersey, Obama tore into Trump with a ferocity rarely seen in public by the ex-POTUS in over a decade.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
1 Nov. 2025
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Tossed and battered by violent wind and severe turbulence, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hurricane Hunters have spent the past week diving into the eye of Melissa — a storm of historic ferocity — to gather life-saving data.—
Andrew Freedman,
CNN Money,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ruthlessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruthlessness. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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