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ruthless

adj
/ˈɹuːθləs/

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.

  1. inherited from reuþeles

Definitions

  1. Without pity or compassion

    Without pity or compassion; cruel, pitiless.

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

  2. Uncompromising

    Uncompromising; unrelenting.

    • 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.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at ruthless. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01ruthless02unrelenting03relenting04relents05relent06cruel07merciless08pitiless

A definitional loop anchored at ruthless. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at ruthless

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA