as in ruthless
not guided by or showing a concern for what is right
cutthroat business practices intended to drive competitors out of business
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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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cutthroat
Amanda Luberto, AZCentral.com, 4 Feb. 2026
The new faces of the sport, in this new generation of figure skaters, promote congeniality much more than cutthroat competitiveness.
—Marcus Thompson Ii, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
Rod Stafford Hagwood, Sun Sentinel, 14 Jan. 2026
Dennis-Yarmouth, Falmouth and Martha’s Vineyard round out a cutthroat Cape and Islands League.
—Tom Mulherin, Boston Herald, 12 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cutthroat
Adjective
Currently, the state is on track to have some of the most expensive House races in the country this November, due in part to a wide open race in CD1 and a cutthroat race in CD6.
—Amanda Luberto, AZCentral.com, 4 Feb. 2026
The new faces of the sport, in this new generation of figure skaters, promote congeniality much more than cutthroat competitiveness.
—Marcus Thompson Ii, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
Noun
And rather than a cutthroat competition of cadences and choreography, this show is more about scholarship.
—Rod Stafford Hagwood, Sun Sentinel, 14 Jan. 2026
Dennis-Yarmouth, Falmouth and Martha’s Vineyard round out a cutthroat Cape and Islands League.
—Tom Mulherin, Boston Herald, 12 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cutthroat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cutthroat
Adjective
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Figure skating is ruthless that way.—
Marcus Thompson II,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
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Pursued by both the FBI and a ruthless crime boss (Bening), Lucky must fight for her life — and a way out.—
Dessi Gomez,
Deadline,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
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In the days after Kirk’s death, politicians, law enforcement, and many media outlets tried to parse the meaning of the assassin’s inscriptions—to find a motive or assign blame.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
14 Feb. 2026
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As Malcolm navigates the moral complexities of his creation, he is hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future which forever alters the fate of his three children, reads Netflix’s synopsis.—
Denise Petski,
Deadline,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The long-term damage that an unqualified, incompetent, compromised or immoral — but superpowered — mayor can inflict on the city is too great.—
Steven Falk,
Mercury News,
6 Feb. 2026
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Tourism dollars flowed in, even if the prettified Southern history being sold ignored the immoral plague that built its riches in the first place.—
Robert Abele,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The show’s initial cast, all of whom were writers as well, featured a murderer’s row of comic talent in Candy, Joe Flaherty, Levy, Andrea Martin, O’Hara, Harold Ramis and Dave Thomas; Moranis joined later in the show’s run, as did Martin Short.—
Rick Porter,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Jan. 2026
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On Monday, a jury found Townsend guilty of endangerment and concealing a homicide, but the murderer is still out there.—
Jermont Terry,
CBS News,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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There, the political and commercial elites don’t shy away from murder to defend potentially corrupt schemes.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Feb. 2026
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Harrowing revelations about corrupt leaders, child rape and grooming come to the fore, and a stop-clock on the back wall counts down the minutes and seconds until the play’s most paralyzing realization.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Despite heart disease being the number one killer of American women, women are underrepresented in clinical trials.—
Helen Carefoot,
Flow Space,
5 Feb. 2026
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Season 4 focuses on the search for a missing Navajo girl, which takes Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito from the safety of Navajo Nation to the gritty terrain of 1970s Los Angeles in a race against the clock to save her from an obsessive killer with ties to organized crime.—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Her unscrupulous, power-hungry uncle Claudius (Kôji Yakusho) murders his own brother to become king.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
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Some also accused unscrupulous recruitment agents or Russian colleagues of stealing from their bank accounts.—
Larry Madowo,
CNN Money,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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In the past, that’s opened small businesses to frivolous lawsuits filed by unprincipled lawyers that file massive lawsuits and offer quick settlements.—
Erica Goldstein,
Boston Herald,
9 Sep. 2025
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Rule by ‘ambitious, and unprincipled men’ Partisanship is the primary problem for the American republic, according to Washington.—
Robert A. Strong,
The Conversation,
8 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cutthroat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cutthroat. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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