mercilessness

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈmɜrsɪləsnəs/ UK /ˈmɜːsɪləsnəs/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the quality of showing no mercy or compassion

The mercilessness of the regime appalled the world.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of showing no... ruthlessness cruelty pitilessness harshness brutalityremorselessness

Opposites

mercy compassion clemencyleniency

Word family

Related forms merciless merciful mercy

Etymology

From merciless (mercy + -less) + -ness, the native English abstract-noun suffix from Old English -nes.

merci xno -nes Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# mercilessness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈmɜrsɪləsnəs
**IPA (UK):** ˈmɜːsɪləsnəs

## Meanings
1. the quality of showing no mercy or compassion

## Examples
- The mercilessness of the regime appalled the world.

## Synonyms
- ruthlessness
- cruelty
- pitilessness
- harshness
- brutality
- remorselessness

## Antonyms
- mercy
- compassion
- clemency
- leniency

## Related Forms
- merciless
- merciful
- mercy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: merci
- Root: -nes

## Etymology
From merciless (mercy + -less) + -ness, the native English abstract-noun suffix from Old English -nes.

## AI Etymology
Mercilessness comes from merciless (mercy + -less) + -ness, the native English abstract-noun suffix from Old English -nes. The etymological trail includes Old French merci and Old English -nes. As a noun, mercilessness means the quality of showing no mercy or compassion. The same family is visible in related forms such as merciless, merciful, and mercy. Morphologically, the word is built from the elements named in its history, so the modern form preserves a visible compound, prefix, or suffix structure.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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mercilessness

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