HARD-HEARTED Synonyms: 113 Similar and Opposite Words

hard-hearted

adjective

ˈhärd-ˈhär-təd

Definition of hard-hearted

as in ruthless

having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings a hard-hearted brush-off to a homeless man asking for money

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of hard-hearted That makes perfect sense to all but the closed-minded or hard-hearted. — Jim Newton, Mercury News, 27 June 2025 In the face of such terror, even hard-hearted Sam has to crumble. — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 27 June 2024 The hard-hearted treatment of men is on full display throughout Cecot. — David Culver, CNN, 6 Nov. 2024 And each registered the other’s contention with the hard-hearted energy of her own physical craving. — Jim Shepard, New Yorker, 8 June 2025 Yet the very readiness with which the hard-hearted General Tilney believes this account suggests that he is used to reliable reports of other people’s wealth. — Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2025 Joel, a hard-hearted smuggler, and Ellie, a headstrong teenager immune to the fungal pandemic that’s decimated the planet. — Adam B. Vary, Variety, 5 Mar. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hard-hearted

Adjective

Natural selection is usually ruthless about weeding out traits with no function.

— Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Supergirl builds to a final showdown with Krem of the Yellow Hills, the ruthless Brigands leader who murdered Ruthye’s family and poisoned Krypto early in the film.

— Lily Brown, PEOPLE, 26 June 2026

Definition of ruthless

Adjective

The poem that precedes it, the Iliad, is a cruel and beautiful work, the ultimate story of war; the Odyssey has its warlike passages, but its central energies seem almost commonplace beside the merciless fury of Achilles.

— David Denby, New Yorker, 21 June 2026
Humility is the posture; the standard is merciless.

— Luis E. Romero, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026

Definition of merciless

Adjective

Oscar Wilde, for example, reposes beneath a hulking deity whose iconoclastic castration, back in 1961, did little to restrain pilgrims seeking to smear red lips across his stony physique.

— Emily Cox, ARTnews.com, 22 May 2026
Instead of looking like a sleek urban loft, the room can quickly start to feel cold, stony, and impersonal.

— Natasha Bazika, Martha Stewart, 9 May 2026

Definition of stony

Browse Nearby Words

hardheads

hard-hearted

hard-heartedly

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“Hard-hearted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hard-hearted. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of hard-hearted

adjective

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