heartless
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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Etymology
From Middle English hertles, herteles, from Old English heortlēas (“without courage; listless”), equivalent to heart + -less.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhɑɹt.lɪs/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈhɑːt.lɪs/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)tlɪs
- Hyphenation: heart‧less
Adjective
heartless (comparative more heartless, superlative most heartless)
- Without feeling, emotion, or concern for others; uncaring; cruel. [from 16th c.]
- Synonyms: cold-hearted, uncordial; see also Thesaurus:stern
- Antonyms: hearty, heartful; cordial
- Coordinate terms: soulless, thoughtless, mindless
- His heartless actions and cold manner left her saddened and feeling alone.
- 1982 August 14, Michael Bronski, “If You Hated The Book You'll Loathe The Movie”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 5, page 11:
- The world is a dangerous, violent place […] and the only true refuge from this heartless world is the family.
- 2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in The A.V. Club:
- Mr. Burns is similarly perfectly cast as a heartless capitalist willing to do anything for a quick buck, even if it means endangering the lives of those around him and Marge elegantly rounds out the main cast as a good, pure-hearted and overly indulgent woman who sees the big, good heart (literally and metaphorically) of a monstrous man-brute.
- Without a physical heart. [from 15th c.]
- Synonym: acardiac
- (now rare) Listless, unenthusiastic. [from 14th c.]
- Antonyms: hearty, heartful; see also Thesaurus:apathetic
- Coordinate term: halfhearted
- Near-synonyms: spiritless, unhearty
- (obsolete) Without courage; fearful, cowardly. [10th–19th c.]
- Synonyms: spineless, gutless, unhearty; see also Thesaurus:cowardly
- Antonym: dauntless
- 1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia, II.iii.7:
- Cecilia then, though almost heartless, resolved upon talking with Mr. Harrel himself […].
Derived terms
Translations
without feeling
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Anagrams
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