ruthless
/ˈɹuːθləs/adjective
ruthless is spelled R-U-T-H-L-E-S-S: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, ruthless means “Without pity or compassion; cruel, pitiless” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ruthless?
| Letters | 8: R-U-T-H-L-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.5 times per million words; the 12,045th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ruthless?
Ruthless appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ruthless?
- /ˈɹuːθləs/
Ruthless has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ruthless.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ruthless
- more ruthless comparative
- most ruthless superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ruthless mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Without pity or compassion; cruel, pitiless.
- 2
Uncompromising; unrelenting.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ruthless in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense without pity or compassion:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | impitoyable |
| German | unbarmherzig, ruchlos, gnadenlos |
| Portuguese | impiedoso |
| Spanish | despiadado, desapiadado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ruthless come from?
From Middle English reuþeles; equivalent to ruth + -less.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).