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
Millie Bobby Brown—the closest thing Netflix has to an in-house star—plays Michelle, a teenager sympathetic to the automatons’ plight who rallies a group of misfits to dethrone a heartless tech mogul, Ethan (Stanley Tucci), who believes that humans and robots shouldn’t coexist.
—
Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 19 Mar. 2025
When moderate, swing-district members of the House balked prior to the vote, Johnson assured them that the caucus wouldn't really go through with such destructive and heartless cuts to a program that serves as a lifeline for millions of poor Americans.
—Mark Davis, Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2025
Grande was one of the brightest surprises as the vapid but not entirely heartless Glinda.
—Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2025
Short of stealing the hedgehog from the girls, Lilian could do nothing to stop them from obtaining heartless pleasure from its helplessness, just as the world did nothing to save the girls or many other children.
—Yiyun Li, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heartless
Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 19 Mar. 2025
When moderate, swing-district members of the House balked prior to the vote, Johnson assured them that the caucus wouldn't really go through with such destructive and heartless cuts to a program that serves as a lifeline for millions of poor Americans.
—Mark Davis, Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2025
Grande was one of the brightest surprises as the vapid but not entirely heartless Glinda.
—Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2025
Short of stealing the hedgehog from the girls, Lilian could do nothing to stop them from obtaining heartless pleasure from its helplessness, just as the world did nothing to save the girls or many other children.
—Yiyun Li, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heartless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heartless
Adjective
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But when the ruthless Mafia boss Nicola Grimaldi discovers his young son has been kidnapped and murdered, the suspect and Grimaldi’s former friend Vito seeks refuge with police.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
9 Apr. 2025
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The way to move up in your organization might require being ruthless.—
Roberta Matuson,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Everybody else has no choice, really, other than to bring a cruel, narcissistic far-right leader to power.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2025
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Jokes that didn’t land with the squad The kids in Bad Influence say the pranks were the most cruel.—
Olivia B. Waxman,
Time,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The straightforward task rapidly devolves into a perilous game of cat and mouse, when the merciless leader of a notorious crime syndicate sets his sights on claiming the organ for himself.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
2 Apr. 2025
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The counterpoint to Pritzker’s light touch on Schumer is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has been merciless in her disapproval of Schumer’s decision.—
Philip Elliott,
TIME,
19 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway fared better than the S & P 500 in a brutal week as investors embraced the safety of a cash-rich conglomerate while President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs wreaked havoc on Wall Street.—
Yun Li,
CNBC,
6 Apr. 2025
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With six games remaining in the regular season — and five of them coming in a brutal seven-day span — the Knicks are suddenly getting healthy at a time when workload management becomes a daily dilemma.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
5 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Softened by pride, Amber slinks away herself, albeit much more cutely than Gregory and accompanied by a vicious side-eye.—
Ile-Ife Okantah,
Vulture,
3 Apr. 2025
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Mikal, Tonya and Jason are vicious, screaming and hurling vile truths at one another.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
30 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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As savage Arctic cold was getting ready to surge south across North America, vivid imagery based on data from weather models showed us what was going to happen.—
Tom Yulsman,
Discover Magazine,
27 Dec. 2022
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The 2023 grand marshal is former Arizona Democratic congresswoman Gabby Giffords, gravely wounded in a savage mass shooting in 2011 that also killed six people.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Dec. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Heartless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heartless. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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