US /ˈhɑrtləs/ UK /ˈhɑːtləs/
adj

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    lacking compassion or feeling; cruelly indifferent

    It was heartless of them to evict the family in the dead of winter.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 adj · lacking compassion or... cruelcallousunfeelingmercilesscoldpitiless
Word family
Forms heartlesslyheartlessness
Derived forms heartlesslyheartlessness
Related forms heart

Etymology

From Old English heortlēas ('dispirited'), from heorte ('heart') plus -lēas ('without, -less'); the modern sense of 'cruel, unfeeling' developed later.

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