English Explanatory Dictionary

ruthless

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Without pity or compassion; cruel, pitiless.
  2. Uncompromising; unrelenting.

Pronunciation

/ˈɹuːθləs/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ruthless.wav

Word forms

ruthless more ruthless most ruthless

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *hrewwaną Proto-West Germanic *hreuwan Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Germanic *-ō Proto-West Germanic *-u Proto-West Germanic *hreuwu Old English hrēow Middle English rewe Middle English -the Old Norse hrygðinflu. Middle English reuþe Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der. Proto-Germanic *leusaną Proto-Germanic *lausaz Proto-Germanic *-lausaz Proto-West Germanic *-laus Old English -lēas Middle English -les Middle English reuþeles English ruthless From Middle English reuþeles; equivalent to ruth + -less.

Synonyms

compassionless merciless unsympathetic barbarous bowelless brutal cruel demonic despiteful diabolic diabolical fell incessive inclement inhuman inhumane malicious nasty nonhumane pitiless remorseless rotten ruthless sadistic savage spiteful truculent unbenevolent unbenign unkind unmerciful unpitiful unpitying

Antonyms

ruthful

Related words

ruthlessly ruthlessness
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on R Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary