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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
Andrew Baggarly, The Athletic, 30 Jan. 2025
Since the regime fell, the evidence of a ruthless police state has grown overwhelming.
—Ian Crouch, The New Yorker, 28 Jan. 2025
Here's the idea: Buried deep within Starfleet exists an anonymous, ruthless intelligence agency that operates out of sight of most Federation citizens and Starfleet officers.
—Ars Technica, 28 Jan. 2025
But that hasn’t stopped the Portuguese manager from being ruthless towards some of his players.
—George Ramsay, CNN, 27 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Ruthless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ruthless. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.
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