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
From Lois and the boys’ discovery of Clark’s limp, heartless corpse to the scream Jordan released when Lex crushed that heart under his boot, there was no shortage of drama.
—
Andy Swift, TVLine, 7 Oct. 2024
Resist this madness before the unhinged, heartless bully and his spellbound thugs shred our Constitution and our future.
—Chicago Tribune, 3 Apr. 2025
At least one federal employee that Elon Musk can’t fire has taken an important stand for all the workers who were terminated in Musk’s heartless government purge.
—Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 30 Mar. 2025
Nelis renders the professor a pompous and pedantic twit but not a heartless one.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heartless
Andy Swift, TVLine, 7 Oct. 2024
Resist this madness before the unhinged, heartless bully and his spellbound thugs shred our Constitution and our future.
—Chicago Tribune, 3 Apr. 2025
At least one federal employee that Elon Musk can’t fire has taken an important stand for all the workers who were terminated in Musk’s heartless government purge.
—Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 30 Mar. 2025
Nelis renders the professor a pompous and pedantic twit but not a heartless one.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 19 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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Inspired by Lauren’s late mother, Adele, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s at the age of 55, their family knows that this merciless disease is no laughing matter.—
Jeff Conway,
Forbes.com,
17 Apr. 2025
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Lottie proposes that Natalie be stripped of her title and that the merciless and vicious Shauna should lead them instead.—
Erin Qualey,
Vulture,
14 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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But graduating in 2009 meant stepping into a brutal job market during the Great Recession.—
William Jones,
USA Today,
19 Apr. 2025
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Andrews adds musical interludes, which don’t always work, and brutal jokes, which do.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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This was a vicious weaponization of your government.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Apr. 2025
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Shauna may be the vicious Antler Queen now, but Lottie also played a role in Mari’s death.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Apr. 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 25 Apr. 2025.
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