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
The film’s revolutionaries, who call themselves the French 75, come clothed in the take-no-prisoners rhetoric and fist-in-the-air attitude that’s been the signifier of righteous radicalism since the late ’60s.
—
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 17 Sep. 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
The third-favorite in New York, Strategic Focus, stands at 10-1 in Britain, which is to say, the take-no-prisoners London bookies think that the 6-1 New York odds are not high enough to reflect his chance of losing to Sovereignty by a measure of nearly fifty percent.
—Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2025
Newsom’s take-no-prisoners social media strategy has gone viral.
—Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 19 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
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 17 Sep. 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
The third-favorite in New York, Strategic Focus, stands at 10-1 in Britain, which is to say, the take-no-prisoners London bookies think that the 6-1 New York odds are not high enough to reflect his chance of losing to Sovereignty by a measure of nearly fifty percent.
—Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2025
Newsom’s take-no-prisoners social media strategy has gone viral.
—Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 19 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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Their methods—ruthless melodic math, brazenly artificial production, and an odd soft spot for reggae rhythms—helped define the world-conquering sound of Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
3 Oct. 2025
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To play someone whose world is so beautiful on the surface but whose secrets are ruthless has been an exhilarating challenge.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The novel intertwines present-day events with painful memories of the lives of her parents, who tried to protect their love from war, jealousy, and the cruelty of the merciless Soviet government.—
Nelly Klos
September 29,
Literary Hub,
29 Sep. 2025
-
In the present day, Lockjaw reenters Bob and Willa’s lives with merciless force, deploying troops from his immigration taskforce on Baktan Cross, the sanctuary city where Bob and Willa have been laying low in the 16 years since Pat became Bob and baby Charlene, Willa, as the two went on the lam.—
Rory Doherty,
Time,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Take-no-prisoners.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/take-no-prisoners. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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