ruthless

English

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹuːθləs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

ruthless (comparative more ruthless, superlative most ruthless)

1. Without pity or compassion; cruel, pitiless.

   Synonyms: compassionless, merciless, unsympathetic; see also Thesaurus:cruel

   Antonym: ruthful

   • 1725, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope et al., The Odyssey of Homer, volume I, Bernard Lintot, page 10:

     At length their rage the hoſtile Pow’rs reſtrain, / All but the ruthleſs Monarch of the Main.

2. Uncompromising; unrelenting.
   • 2018 December 1, Drachinifel, 9:26 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols - The West Africa Squadron‎^[1], archived from the original on 29 November 2024:

     Particular note, in this period, should be made of the actions of Joseph Denman, commander of the Northern Division of the Squadron, who went on an absolutely ruthless and systematic campaign along the African coast, burning so-called "slaving factories" to the ground and openly daring anyone who objected to try and stop him.

   • 2024 November 6, David Culver, Abel Alvarado, Evelio Contreras and Rachel Clarke, “Exclusive: Locking eyes with mass murderers in El Salvador”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     But the ruthless cleaning up of those streets and merciless treatment of gang members have triggered outrage and concern among human rights organizations, which have condemned Cecot as inhumane and unacceptable.

Related terms

• ruthlessly
• ruthlessness

Translations

without pity or compassion — see also implacable,‎ inflexible,‎ firm

• Arabic: قَاسٍ (qāsin)
• Armenian: անգութ (hy) (angutʻ), դաժան (hy) (dažan)
• Basque: errukigabe
• Belarusian: бязлі́тасны (be) (bjazlítasny), бязжа́ласлівы (bjazžálaslivy)
• Bulgarian: безми́лостен (bg) (bezmílosten), безскру́пулен (bg) (bezskrúpulen)
• Catalan: despietat (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 殘忍 / 残忍 (zh) (cánrěn), 無情 / 无情 (zh) (wúqíng)

• Czech: bezohledný (cs), nemilosrdný (cs)
• Danish: skånselløs, skånselsløs
• Dutch: onbarmhartig (nl), meedogenloos (nl)
• Esperanto: senkompata
• Finnish: armoton (fi), säälimätön (fi)
• French: impitoyable (fr)
• Galician: desapiadado (gl)
• Georgian: შეუბრალებელი (šeubralebeli), ულმობელი (ulmobeli)
• German: unbarmherzig (de), ruchlos (de), gnadenlos (de)
• Greek: αδίστακτος (el) (adístaktos)

  Ancient Greek: ἄνοικτος (ánoiktos)

• Hindi: क्रूर (krūr), निर्दयी (nirdayī), निष्ठुर (hi) (niṣṭhur)
• Hungarian: könyörtelen (hu)
• Italian: spietato (it), crudele (it)
• Japanese: 無情な (ja) (むじょうな, mujō na), 残酷な (ja) (ざんこくな, zankoku na), 無慈悲な (ja) (むじひな, mujihi na)
• Kazakh: мейірімсіз (meiırımsız)
• Khmer: គ្មានមេត្តា (kmiən meittaa)
• Korean: 무자비하다 (mujabihada)
• Latin: crūdēlis
• Lithuanian: negailestingas
• Macedonian: немилосрден (nemilosrden), безмилосен (bezmilosen)
• Māori: ngākau whakawiri
• Mongolian: харгис хэрцгий (xargis xercgii)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hensynsløs, ubarmhjertig (no)

• Occitan: despietadós (oc)
• Polish: bezwzględny (pl), bezpardonowy (pl)
• Portuguese: impiedoso
• Romanian: nemilos (ro)
• Russian: безжа́лостный (ru) (bezžálostnyj), беспоща́дный (ru) (bespoščádnyj), жесто́кий (ru) (žestókij)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: не̏милосрдан

• Shor: ачынмас
• Slovak: bezohľadný, nemilosrdný
• Slovene: neusmiljen, trdosrčen
• Spanish: despiadado (es)
• Swedish: hänsynslös (sv), skoningslös (sv), obarmhärtig (sv)
• Thai: เหี้ยม (th) (hîiam)
• Turkish: acımasız (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: دینسز (dinsiz)

• Ukrainian: безжа́лісний (uk) (bezžálisnyj), безжа́льний (uk) (bezžálʹnyj), безпоща́дний (uk) (bezpoščádnyj)
• Vietnamese: tàn nhẫn (vi)

Anagrams

• Selhurst, hurtless, hustlers, sluthers