as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
under his slash-and-burn management ethic, even longtime employees were summarily downsized for the sake of corporate competitiveness
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Recent Examples of slash-and-burn
Tesla stock suffered as a result of billionaire Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn approach to government efficiency as a Trump advisor.
—
Matthew Kelly
may 8, Kansas City Star, 8 May 2026
Many of the dispossessed took to the woods and subsisted by slash-and-burn tillage, while others immigrated to Manchuria and Japan in search of jobs; the majority of Korean residents now in those areas are their descendants.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Mar. 2026
Even after a year of slash-and-burn, Trump is not done.
—Lara Williams, Twin Cities, 22 Jan. 2026
That stark reality forced both sides to wage slash-and-burn propaganda campaigns designed to sow doubt and disinformation among their enemies.
—Literary Hub, 7 Nov. 2025
The Ukrainian experience here points to a Russian slash-and-burn policy.
—Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor, 1 Oct. 2025
Here and there, a plume of smoke rose up from a field; slash-and-burn farming, locally known as tavy, is still practiced here.
—Chris Schalkx, Vogue, 30 Sep. 2025
The slash-and-burn approach to funding academic research counters that goal.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 20 Aug. 2025
The push by Trump and Elon Musk, who led DOGE before leaving the White House in May, drew widespread condemnation over the administration's slash-and-burn approach to shrinking the bureaucracy.
—Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Aug. 2025
Matthew Kelly
may 8, Kansas City Star, 8 May 2026
Many of the dispossessed took to the woods and subsisted by slash-and-burn tillage, while others immigrated to Manchuria and Japan in search of jobs; the majority of Korean residents now in those areas are their descendants.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Mar. 2026
Even after a year of slash-and-burn, Trump is not done.
—Lara Williams, Twin Cities, 22 Jan. 2026
That stark reality forced both sides to wage slash-and-burn propaganda campaigns designed to sow doubt and disinformation among their enemies.
—Literary Hub, 7 Nov. 2025
The Ukrainian experience here points to a Russian slash-and-burn policy.
—Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor, 1 Oct. 2025
Here and there, a plume of smoke rose up from a field; slash-and-burn farming, locally known as tavy, is still practiced here.
—Chris Schalkx, Vogue, 30 Sep. 2025
The slash-and-burn approach to funding academic research counters that goal.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 20 Aug. 2025
The push by Trump and Elon Musk, who led DOGE before leaving the White House in May, drew widespread condemnation over the administration's slash-and-burn approach to shrinking the bureaucracy.
—Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slash-and-burn
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
Adjective
-
Ron White, Joe DeRosa, and Tony’s number one favorite comic, Tony Hinchcliffe (played by Adam Ray), showed the crowd exactly what effortless and absolutely merciless veteran comedy looks like.—
Malina Saval,
Los Angeles Times,
13 May 2026
-
Development in the Dotte 🪠 Fish or human feces often wash up in KCK homes during those merciless spring rains.—
Sofi Zeman,
Kansas City Star,
30 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Slash-and-burn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slash-and-burn. Accessed 26 May. 2026.
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