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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
- affectless
- callous
- case-hardened
- cold-blooded
- compassionless
- desensitized
- hard
- hard-boiled
- hard-hearted
- heartless
- indurate
- inhuman
- inhumane
- insensate
- insensitive
- ironhearted
- merciless
- obdurate
- pachydermatous
- pitiless
- remorseless
- slash-and-burn
- soulless
- stony
- stoney
- stonyhearted
- take-no-prisoners
- thick-skinned
- uncharitable
- unfeeling
- unmerciful
- unsparing
- unsympathetic
Examples of ruthless in a Sentence
Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 12 Apr. 2024
In a fanciful twist, Texas and California have cast their red-blue animus aside and forged the Western Forces, a secessionist axis seeking to topple the President (the ruthless, mirthless Nick Offerman), a despot who has appointed himself to a third term.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2024
Locklear, 62 — who played Amanda Woodward, the ruthless and merciless boss of Thorne-Smith's character — first appeared in season 1 as a guest role.
—Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 11 Apr. 2024
Kane’s ability as a playmaker, as well as being a ruthless goalscorer, became increasingly evident in his final years at Tottenham.
—Matias Grez, CNN, 10 Apr. 2024
Unfortunately for Gazans, Hamas continues to display ruthless disregard for its own people’s well-being.
—Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024
Her rabbits, kittens, mice and squirrels are anthropomorphized, but there is a ruthless, survival-of-the-fittest ethos always in the background, creating a surreal fusion of quaint, cozy English domesticity and stern, Darwinian rigor.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2024
Could its ruthless and needy singer Neely O’Hara be inspired by Judy Garland?
—Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
Mendelsohn is the moral and creative hero, but the striving, anything-to-survive Binoche gives the series a ruthless spark.
—Vogue, 21 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ruthless.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Ruthless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ruthless. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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