Synonyms for ruthless
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Merciless — without pity or compassion; cruel, pitiless
merciless, remorseless, pitiless, brutal, unmerciful, cruel, savage, blood-thirsty, inhuman, truculent, relentless, sadistic, ferocious, implacable, barbarous, diabolical, unrelenting, harsh, unsympathetic, nasty, diabolic, grim
Definitions
- adj. 1
Without pity or compassion; cruel, pitiless.
Related words
- Word family
- ruthlessly ruthlessness
Example sentences
- brutal The city was ruined by the brutal force of nature.
- merciless The Vandals were known for their merciless brutality.
- remorseless Bruno reacted in a very remorseless way.
- pitiless The revenge will be pitiless.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| ruthless | rising | |
| brutal | rising | |
| merciless | rising | |
| remorseless | rising | |
| pitiless | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- grim1
- 5 letters
- nasty2, cruel2, harsh1
- 6 letters
- brutal2, savage2
- 7 letters
- inhuman3
- 8 letters
- sadistic3, pitiless3, diabolic
- 9 letters
- ferocious3, merciless3, barbarous3, truculent3
- 10 letters
- relentless3, diabolical5, implacable4, unmerciful4
- 11 letters
- unrelenting4, remorseless3
- 13 letters
- unsympathetic5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (nasty2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- impitoyable
- Italiano
- impietoso
- Español
- desalmado
- Deutsch
- schonungslos