UNFORGIVING Synonyms: 91 Similar and Opposite Words

unforgiving

adjective

Definition of unforgiving

as in uncompromising

Related Words

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Dissimilar Words

as in resentful

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

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 unforgiving The discovery opens the door to a new generation of resilient materials built for the universe’s most unforgiving environments. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 14 Oct. 2026 Zero margin for error Back on Earth, the team faces an unforgiving timeline. — Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 12 Oct. 2026 With its lethal heat and unforgiving terrain, the desert was dangerous enough without outsiders squaring off against Border Patrol. — Ryan Devereaux, ProPublica, 10 Oct. 2026 Storyscope, Peripheria, Black Mic Mac Set in 1980s South Africa, Mokgata’s third feature is told from the perspective of a 10-year-old girl, an orphaned laborer trapped in the unforgiving world of farm life who uses her imagination to escape. — Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for unforgiving

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unforgiving

Adjective

The backtrack, albeit temporary, is a sharp reversal for two of corporate America’s most uncompromising voices on office attendance.

— Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 23 June 2026
The company’ products also have a distinctive look that’s unmistakably Noble, offering an uncompromising approach to earbud design.

— Mark Sparrow, Forbes.com, 2 June 2026

Definition of uncompromising

Adjective

The great New Zealand actor Rachel House, as Chrissie’s housekeeper, has been tasked with bringing a discordantly comedic note by playing the character as overtly resentful of Klara’s arrival.

— Alison Willmore, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2026
The once-promising prodigy will grow dissolute, remorseful and resentful of his wife, who outlives him.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of resentful

Adjective

In some obscure way, Shawn felt responsible for protecting the stranger against the slights of his unyielding countrymen.

— Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
His unyielding tongue-in-cheek career narrative touches on craftsmanship, luxury and nihilism.

— Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of unyielding

Adjective

Participants fell into their roles a little too well and, after a prisoner rebellion, increasingly cruel forms of punishment from the guards and a number of students suffering mental breakdowns, the experiment was ended on the sixth day.

— Marlow Stern, Variety, 25 Oct. 2026
But these townswomen — whether the undersexed Bakerwoman (Ella Bruccoleri ) or the prim, cruel busybody the Tailor’s Wife (a deliciously scheming Elizabeth Debicki) — are deeply unhappy with their own lot in life.

— Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of cruel

Adjective

Accusing investors of not tracking the misses may be uncharitable.

— Henrik Landgren, Fortune, 29 July 2026
In the years since it was announced, the economics of college football have grown increasingly uncharitable for programs like the Mustangs, an FCS team that plays its home games in an 11,000-seat stadium and last had a winning season in 2016.

— Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 23 July 2026

Definition of uncharitable

Adjective

It would be seen as a work of merciless autofiction in the vein of Karl Ove Knausgaard, and it would be discussed, as his books are, as aggressive, antisocial, and spiteful.

— B. D. McClay, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
In 1932, Carlos (Milo Quifes) is a young man in Grenada at a time when Spain is lurching uncomfortably towards an ever-increasing spiteful intolerance of homosexuality.

— Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of spiteful

Adjective

That quickly comes in handy when Clancy, a sadistic guard, tells the inmates they’re being shipped to the infamous sanitarium Saint Mabyn’s.

— Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
Mungiu may have a less sadistic streak and a more active camera, but the two filmmakers share a particular commitment to narrative indeterminacy, devising intricate yet incomplete crime-story plots that function broadly as sociopolitical allegories.

— Justin Chang, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of sadistic

Adjective

Experts say the state-of-the-art Ion robotic bronchoscopy would have indicated whether the tumor was malignant and possibly whether cancer had spread to the lymph nodes.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026
Before enrollment, people volunteering for the study would be screened for early signs of cancer because TB-4 triggers vessel growth and cell migration, which might exacerbate malignant growths.

— CNN Money, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of malignant

Browse Nearby Words

unforgivable

unforgiving

unformed

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“Unforgiving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unforgiving. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of unforgiving

adjective

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