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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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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Recent Examples of heartless
Second, because management wasn’t heartless enough to break the roster up just to chase marginal improvements.
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Sean McIndoe, The Athletic, 5 July 2024
The latter two are quickly put off by the aggressive, greedy, and heartless nature in which the men want to move forward in regard to the ranch's doomed future.
—Matt Cabral, EW.com, 25 Nov. 2024
Wilson plays Maitlis as a tough but certainly not heartless interviewer, showing the conflicts the trusted journalist encounters.
—Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 19 Sep. 2024
In reality, these bans are heartless half-measures in a city that lacks enough shelter space or transitional housing for the roughly 6,600 people experiencing homelessness in Austin.
—Bridget Grumet, Austin American-Statesman, 16 Jan. 2024
See all Example Sentences for heartless 
Sean McIndoe, The Athletic, 5 July 2024
The latter two are quickly put off by the aggressive, greedy, and heartless nature in which the men want to move forward in regard to the ranch's doomed future.
—Matt Cabral, EW.com, 25 Nov. 2024
Wilson plays Maitlis as a tough but certainly not heartless interviewer, showing the conflicts the trusted journalist encounters.
—Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 19 Sep. 2024
In reality, these bans are heartless half-measures in a city that lacks enough shelter space or transitional housing for the roughly 6,600 people experiencing homelessness in Austin.
—Bridget Grumet, Austin American-Statesman, 16 Jan. 2024
See all Example Sentences for heartless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heartless
Adjective
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Their life is interrupted by the arrival of a group of pale, ghostly white lions, an outsider tribe of scavengers led by the ruthless Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen), looking to occupy and control this land.Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2024
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Storks Are Fascinating Beyond Their Brood Reducing Ways Despite their ruthless parenting, storks are fascinating creatures with other interesting traits.Scott Travers, Forbes, 18 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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By the time Lovely Runner’s series finale dropped in late May, millions of K-drama fans around the world had become invested in the story of Sol and Sun-jae, desperate to find out if their love could withstand the cruel vagaries of fate.Kayti Burt, TIME, 18 Dec. 2024
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Some Rochester residents disagree and find their city’s methods excessively cruel to the birds.Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix Season two picks up exactly where the first left off, as Gi-hun devises a plan: track down the organizers of the game and end that merciless contest once and for all.Radhika Seth, Vogue, 26 Dec. 2024
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Season 2 doesn’t top the shocking novelty of the first season, made iconic by that giant mechanical girl in charge of a merciless game of red light, green light.Tom Gliatto, People.com, 26 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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The brutal Assad regime is brought to a sudden end when Syrian rebels seize Damascus following a lightning offensive.The Week UK, theweek, 25 Dec. 2024
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Yet for many others, the summer of ’65 presented a moment of reckoning: not about choosing acoustic or electric, but about responding to a brutal and unjust U.S. military escalation abroad.Nina Silber / Made by History, TIME, 25 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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But the blaze was the latest manifestation of a vicious cycle in which flammable invasive grasses are choking out fire-resistant vegetation in the Santa Monica Mountains.Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 24 Dec. 2024
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The vicious gang has taken advantage of a lax southern border under the Biden-Harris administration, with many of its foot soldiers swarming the U.S. and unleashing hell on unsuspecting communities.Michael Dorgan, Fox News, 20 Dec. 2024
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
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Cite this Entry
“Heartless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heartless. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
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