Adjacent Words

Merciless definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MER'CILESS, a. Destitute of mercy; unfeeling; pitiless; hard-hearted; cruel; as a merciless tyrant.
1. Not sparing; as the merciless waves or tempest.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: having or showing no mercy; "the merciless enemy"; "a merciless critic"; "gave him a merciless beating" [syn: merciless, unmerciful] [ant: merciful]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 14th century having or showing no mercy ; pitiless • mercilessly adverb • mercilessness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 pitiless. 2 showing no mercy. Derivatives: mercilessly adv. mercilessness n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Merciless Mer"ci*less, a. Destitute of mercy; cruel; unsparing; -- said of animate beings, and also, figuratively, of things; as, a merciless tyrant; merciless waves. The foe is merciless, and will not pity. --Shak. Syn: Cruel; unmerciful; remorseless; ruthless; pitiless; barbarous; savage. -- Mer"ci*less*ly, adv. -- Mer"ci*less*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe someone as merciless, you mean that they are very cruel or determined and do not show any concern for the effect their actions have on other people. ...the merciless efficiency of a modern police state. = ruthless ADJ • mercilessly We teased him mercilessly... ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj, ADV with cl

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Pitiless, cruel, unfeeling, unmerciful, uncompassionate, inexorable, unrelenting, relentless, fell, hard-hearted, severe, barbarous, savage, unsparing.

Moby Thesaurus

atrocious, barbarian, barbaric, barbarous, bestial, bloody, bowelless, brutal, brutish, callous, cold, crude, cruel, cutthroat, dog-eat-dog, feral, ferine, ferocious, fierce, hard, harsh, heartless, illiberal, implacable, inclement, inconsiderate, indifferent, inexorable, inflexible, inhuman, inhumane, insensitive, kill-crazy, malevolent, malign, malignant, mortal, murderous, noncivilized, pitiless, relentless, remorseless, rough, rude, ruthless, sanguinary, savage, severe, tameless, thoughtless, tough, tyrannical, unappeasable, unbending, uncalled-for, uncharitable, uncivilized, uncompassionate, uncompassioned, unfeeling, unflinching, unforgiving, ungentle, ungracious, unmerciful, unmoved, unpitiful, unpitying, unrelenting, unremorseful, unsparing, unsympathetic, unsympathizing, untamed, unyielding, vicious, wanton, wild, without mercy