as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
a theater critic with a take-no-prisoners approach to reviewing Broadway's latest offerings
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Recent Examples of take-no-prisoners
Continuing in his take-no-prisoners approach, Lane moved on from Chalamet to relate an anecdote, first told by his friend Jesse Tyler Ferguson on a podcast, in which Lane met Ferguson’s young son, who was duly dazzled by The Lion King star.
—
Greg Evans, Deadline, 12 Mar. 2026
Ed O’Bradovich, the young, take-no-prisoners defensive end, was a product of Proviso East High School.
—Charles Billington, Chicago Tribune, 18 Jan. 2026
Ricky Gervais has hosted the Golden Globes five times, making Hollywood sweat with his take-no-prisoners approach to jokes mocking showbiz.
—William Earl, Variety, 30 Dec. 2025
Directed by genre-hopping Ben Wheatley and written by John Wick creator Derek Kolstad from a story hatched by Kolstad and Odenkirk, the subversive Western is a take-no-prisoners gore fest that peppers all the visceral carnage with an equal sprinkling of dry wit.
—Michael Rechtshaffen, HollywoodReporter, 15 Sep. 2025
Nothing about Francis Lawrence’s take-no-prisoners adaptation of Richard Bachman’s (aka Stephen King) staggering novel offers one shard of hope for any of us to wrap our bloodied fingers around.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 12 Sep. 2025
The fact that any remaining mutual admiration is fueled by mutual animosity is thus introduced right up front, and the movie wastes zero time setting out the rules of engagement for what will soon become take-no-prisoners warfare between the Roses.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 27 Aug. 2025
Karen Read and her attorney Alan Jackson, who just signed on to the latest twist in this take-no-prisoners legal struggle, aren’t sweating the sad wrongful-death suit brought in Plymouth County by John O’Keefe’s family.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 6 Aug. 2025
Trump’s White House is accustomed to take-no-prisoners political messaging, continuing its aggressive style from last year’s campaign that critics describe as callous and vindictive.
—Chris Megerian, Fortune, 23 May 2025
Greg Evans, Deadline, 12 Mar. 2026
Ed O’Bradovich, the young, take-no-prisoners defensive end, was a product of Proviso East High School.
—Charles Billington, Chicago Tribune, 18 Jan. 2026
Ricky Gervais has hosted the Golden Globes five times, making Hollywood sweat with his take-no-prisoners approach to jokes mocking showbiz.
—William Earl, Variety, 30 Dec. 2025
Directed by genre-hopping Ben Wheatley and written by John Wick creator Derek Kolstad from a story hatched by Kolstad and Odenkirk, the subversive Western is a take-no-prisoners gore fest that peppers all the visceral carnage with an equal sprinkling of dry wit.
—Michael Rechtshaffen, HollywoodReporter, 15 Sep. 2025
Nothing about Francis Lawrence’s take-no-prisoners adaptation of Richard Bachman’s (aka Stephen King) staggering novel offers one shard of hope for any of us to wrap our bloodied fingers around.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 12 Sep. 2025
The fact that any remaining mutual admiration is fueled by mutual animosity is thus introduced right up front, and the movie wastes zero time setting out the rules of engagement for what will soon become take-no-prisoners warfare between the Roses.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 27 Aug. 2025
Karen Read and her attorney Alan Jackson, who just signed on to the latest twist in this take-no-prisoners legal struggle, aren’t sweating the sad wrongful-death suit brought in Plymouth County by John O’Keefe’s family.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 6 Aug. 2025
Trump’s White House is accustomed to take-no-prisoners political messaging, continuing its aggressive style from last year’s campaign that critics describe as callous and vindictive.
—Chris Megerian, Fortune, 23 May 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for take-no-prisoners
Adjective
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There’s also just one overwhelming evil force in this play — the Nazis — whereas Dumas had his musketeers fighting not just ruthless government officials but royalty, religious leaders and nobles.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
11 Mar. 2026
-
With a lesser interpreter in the role, Eva might have read more reductively as just a ruthless bureaucratic leader.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
In between, the Ball Arena patrons were merciless in their jeering of the officials.—
Corey Masisak,
Denver Post,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Against some audiences’ will, Ari Aster’s merciless black comedy drags us back to May 2020 when tempers, temperatures and misinformation were heating up across America.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Take-no-prisoners.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/take-no-prisoners. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
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