as in ruthless
not guided by or showing a concern for what is right
cutthroat business practices intended to drive competitors out of business
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in assassin
a person who kills another person
while traveling the ancient Silk Road, traders were constant prey to cutthroats and thieves
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cutthroat
Zac Ntim, Deadline, 11 May 2026
The cutthroat nature of WNBA roster transactions forces players to learn different team styles and playbooks on the fly.
—Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 9 May 2026
Matt Grobar, Deadline, 6 Apr. 2026
Young people in China face a cutthroat job market and are trying to stay competitive amid slowing economic growth.
—Erin Tan, NBC news, 4 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cutthroat
Adjective
The plot is said to follow eight friends competing for a prize when their annual holiday gift exchange spirals into a cutthroat game of carnage.
—Zac Ntim, Deadline, 11 May 2026
The cutthroat nature of WNBA roster transactions forces players to learn different team styles and playbooks on the fly.
—Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 9 May 2026
Noun
Their annual festive holiday gift exchange spirals into a cutthroat game of Christmas carnage.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 6 Apr. 2026
Young people in China face a cutthroat job market and are trying to stay competitive amid slowing economic growth.
—Erin Tan, NBC news, 4 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cutthroat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cutthroat
Adjective
-
When a ruthless despot steals a billion-dollar fortune, the team is sent to steal it back on what would be for anyone else a suicide mission.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
14 May 2026
-
Assayas offers anecdotes, a feuilleton of tyranny in which the foibles of the mighty and the ruthless reveal the sentimental side of cruelty, the amusement value of ugly deeds, and the polite side of monstrous ideas.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
13 May 2026
Noun
-
English actress Comer is probably best known for her role as sociopathic assassin Villanelle on BBC America’s Killing Eve, which earned her an Emmy and BAFTA TV Award.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
14 May 2026
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As a refresher, the epic Yellowstone finale saw the Dutton family finally uncover how patriarch John Dutton was killed by an assassin hired by Jamie’s (Wes Bentley) girlfriend.—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes.com,
14 May 2026
Adjective
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Each side views members of the other party not as merely having a different view on politics but rather as evil or immoral.—
James Piazza,
Twin Cities,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Pope Francis changed the church’s social teaching to declare capital punishment immoral in all cases.—
Nicole Winfield,
Fortune,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Harris was no longer seen as a murderer, and the state decided not to retry him.—
Nate Anderson,
ArsTechnica,
14 May 2026
-
The entire movie, people just keep talking about how Clint Eastwood’s character, William Munny, was the most incredible murderer the West has ever seen.—
Mikey O'Connell,
HollywoodReporter,
12 May 2026
Adjective
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The film explores themes of power and coming of age in a corrupt society, with campus culture wars and climate grief at its center.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
16 May 2026
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Dahlia, a disillusioned police aide, breaks into the mansion of the corrupt police chief Bernal and steals the money from his safe, unloading the funds to slum dwellers whose settlement Bernal razed down.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
15 May 2026
Noun
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But wait, isn’t alcohol good for the heart — the leading killer of men and women worldwide?—
Sandee LaMotte,
CNN Money,
14 May 2026
-
There were no witnesses and no forensic technology to single out a killer.—
Peter Van Sant,
CBS News,
14 May 2026
Adjective
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Authorities in the state promised to crack down on the issue after a Times investigation in late 2020 revealed that unscrupulous providers were billing Medicare for hospice services and equipment for patients who were not actually dying — with the hospice industry in the state exploding in size.—
Kevin Rector,
Los Angeles Times,
13 May 2026
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The ads from both sides describe an unscrupulous, moneyed and ruthless entity preying on people at their most vulnerable moments.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
8 May 2026
Adjective
-
Practically all the public’s attention has been on the president and his oddball or vengeful or unprincipled actions.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Apr. 2026
-
How pathetically far this blithering, unprincipled piece of trash has gone to endanger other lives, to expressly distract and deflect from his own wicked deeds, and to further benefit his grifting family’s larcenously enlarged bounties.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
8 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cutthroat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cutthroat. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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