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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
Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 21 Nov. 2024
The ruthless military officer with the monocle and the swagger stick who sends his men to senseless death and/or turns traitor.
—Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2024
Penned by journalist Gabe Sherman, The Apprentice follows the trajectory and rise to prominence of young and somewhat naïve rich boy Trump (Stan) under the tutelage of ruthless Republican lawyer and ex-Joe McCarthy bagman Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong).
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 20 Nov. 2024
Cruel Intentions follows the elite students of Manchester College, where two ruthless step-siblings will do anything to stay on top of the cutthroat social hierarchy, including seducing the daughter of the vice-president of the United States.
—Anne Victoria Clark, Vulture, 12 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Ruthless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ruthless. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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