as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
under his slash-and-burn management ethic, even longtime employees were summarily downsized for the sake of corporate competitiveness
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Recent Examples of slash-and-burn
The slash-and-burn approach to funding academic research counters that goal.
—
Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 20 Aug. 2025
The push by Trump and Elon Musk, who led DOGE before leaving the White House in May, drew widespread condemnation over the administration's slash-and-burn approach to shrinking the bureaucracy.
—Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Aug. 2025
Trump’s slash-and-burn attack on our nation’s arts and culture industry can only be blamed for so much.
—Duante Beddingfield, Freep.com, 18 July 2025
The state initiatives have a markedly different character from Trump’s slash-and-burn approach, symbolized by Musk’s chain saw-brandishing appearance at a Conservative Political Action Committee appearance in February.
—Marc Levy, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2025
That practice, known as slash-and-burn farming, actually began 12,000 years ago, though it didn’t get started in earnest in North America until 1500 when European settlers arrived.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 3 July 2025
The work draws from images of gold mining in the Amazon, referencing extractive practices like logging and slash-and-burn farming.
—Nel-Olivia Waga, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
Trump’s slash-and-burn approach to reform — on issues as varied as immigration enforcement to Medicaid to Veterans Affairs and COVID-19 shots, just for starters, will take a strong pushback just to land somewhere near the ever-elusive sensible center.
—Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, 1 June 2025
Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 20 Aug. 2025
The push by Trump and Elon Musk, who led DOGE before leaving the White House in May, drew widespread condemnation over the administration's slash-and-burn approach to shrinking the bureaucracy.
—Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Aug. 2025
Trump’s slash-and-burn attack on our nation’s arts and culture industry can only be blamed for so much.
—Duante Beddingfield, Freep.com, 18 July 2025
The state initiatives have a markedly different character from Trump’s slash-and-burn approach, symbolized by Musk’s chain saw-brandishing appearance at a Conservative Political Action Committee appearance in February.
—Marc Levy, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2025
That practice, known as slash-and-burn farming, actually began 12,000 years ago, though it didn’t get started in earnest in North America until 1500 when European settlers arrived.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 3 July 2025
The work draws from images of gold mining in the Amazon, referencing extractive practices like logging and slash-and-burn farming.
—Nel-Olivia Waga, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
Trump’s slash-and-burn approach to reform — on issues as varied as immigration enforcement to Medicaid to Veterans Affairs and COVID-19 shots, just for starters, will take a strong pushback just to land somewhere near the ever-elusive sensible center.
—Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, 1 June 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slash-and-burn
Adjective
-
Hunted by the ruthless crime boss that Don worked for and learned all the boss’s sinister secrets — Perlman plays him — Don has a reason to seek redemption.—
Mike Fleming Jr,
Deadline,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Witness Alex Hales’ ruthless removal.—
Tim Ellis,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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In 1918, Bolshevik secret police forced Anastasia Romanov and her imperial family into a damp basement to face a merciless firing squad.—
Ashlee Conour,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Sep. 2025
-
The lengthy, merciless caption is basically the rock equivalent of Miranda Priestly’s cerulean sweater takedown.—
Angie Martoccio,
Rolling Stone,
22 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Slash-and-burn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slash-and-burn. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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