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If someone can be ruthless, can one also be ruthful?
Ruthless can be defined as "without ruth" or "having no ruth." So what, then, is ruth? The noun ruth, which is now considerably less common than ruthless, means "compassion for the misery of another," "sorrow for one's own faults," or "remorse." And, just as it is possible for one to be without ruth, it is also possible to be full of ruth. The antonym of ruthless is ruthful, meaning "full of ruth" or "tender." Ruthful can also mean "full of sorrow" or "causing sorrow." Ruth can be traced back to the Middle English noun ruthe, itself from ruen, meaning "to rue" or "to feel regret, remorse, or sorrow."
Synonyms of ruthless
Examples of ruthless in a Sentence
Judy Berman, Time, 28 Nov. 2025
More recently, the actor, who moved to Las Vegas in 1992, starred in Steven Soderbergh’s remake of Ocean’s Eleven, in which DeLano played a Las Vegas casino manager working for Andy Garcia’s ruthless character, Terry Benedict.
—Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 26 Nov. 2025
Over two decades, Ryan Wedding went from a promising snowboarder competing in the Olympics to someone who officials have said is one of the most violent and ruthless criminals in the world, responsible for orchestrating murders and running a billion-dollar cocaine cartel.
—Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 23 Nov. 2025
How ironic that the quirky Tennant would be the most ruthless?
—Devan Coggan, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ruthless
Cite this Entry
“Ruthless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ruthless. Accessed 3 Dec. 2025.
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