heartlessness

noun

as in cruelty
disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others the gung ho heartlessness with which the secret police tortured prisoners was beyond belief

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of heartlessness These young graduates start out naive about the heartlessness of the corporate world and harbor illusory hopes for success in unforgiving professions. — George Packer, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2026 The lives of the two children in the story, aged fourteen and four, are portrayed as being as fleeting as the fireflies, and the story is an unsentimental and unflinching account with moments of both tenderness and heartlessness. — Ginny Tapley Takemori september 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heartlessness
  1. cruelty
  2. brutality
Noun
  • Ted Gualtier, owner of Happy Tail Happy Dog, LLC, has been charged by Denver authorities with one count of cruelty to animals.
    — Brian Maass, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Many abolitionists and Quakers – who fought to ban slavery – initially supported the colonization society’s removal efforts as a means for helping Black residents escape the cruelty of American laws, especially the Fugitive Slave Acts.
    — Karen Masterson, The Conversation, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of cruelty
Noun
  • The case got widespread attention because of the brutality of the killing, the ages of the people involved and because a satanic symbol was carved into the victim’s body.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 28 Sep. 2026
  • That reporting revealed that the state frequently seizes money from legal settlements stemming from medical malpractice, police brutality, workplace injury and other wrongful death lawsuits.
    — Ginny Monk, Hartford Courant, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of brutality

Browse Nearby Words

heartlessly
heartlessness
heartrending
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Heartlessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heartlessness. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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