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
Anna may be be the most solid of the bunch, a take-no-prisoners (so to speak) type who may be sturdier than any of the men.
—
Pete Hammond, Deadline, 26 Jan. 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
Pete Hammond, Deadline, 26 Jan. 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
-
The helmet’s symbolism directs the world to the atrocities being committed upon an innocent, sovereign nation undergoing ruthless destruction.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
19 Feb. 2026
-
During this ruthless era, famous women were sorted into a stringent binary.—
Stephanie McNeal,
Glamour,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
But in the shadows, amid growing unease at the blood-thirsty actions of the realm’s merciless Mad King, dissenters from his inner circle anxiously advance a treasonous plot.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
18 Feb. 2026
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Fleeing into the desert with her father, she is hunted by a merciless army and forced to trust a legendary bandit (Mackie) with secrets of his own.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Take-no-prisoners.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/take-no-prisoners. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
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