as in ruthless
not guided by or showing a concern for what is right
cutthroat business practices intended to drive competitors out of business
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in assassin
a person who kills another person
while traveling the ancient Silk Road, traders were constant prey to cutthroats and thieves
Synonyms & Similar 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 cutthroat
Anne Victoria Clark, Vulture, 12 Nov. 2024
The car-wash business is cutthroat and competitive, and so is the business of entertaining the world.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 23 Oct. 2024
Alan Rappeport, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025
But while others are distracted by his cutthroat gameplay, Mariano looks for his competitive edge.
—Nic Juarez, Vulture, 14 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for cutthroat 
Adjective
Cruel Intentions follows the elite students of Manchester College, where two ruthless step-siblings will do anything to stay on top of the cutthroat social hierarchy, including seducing the daughter of the vice-president of the United States.
—Anne Victoria Clark, Vulture, 12 Nov. 2024
The car-wash business is cutthroat and competitive, and so is the business of entertaining the world.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 23 Oct. 2024
Noun
Howard Lutnick Commerce Secretary Image Howard Lutnick acquired a reputation as a cutthroat trader during his decades on Wall Street as chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services company that specializes in government bonds.
—Alan Rappeport, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025
But while others are distracted by his cutthroat gameplay, Mariano looks for his competitive edge.
—Nic Juarez, Vulture, 14 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for cutthroat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cutthroat
Adjective
-
Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone are delicious as the two ruthless favorites of the monarch, who try to outmaneuver each other at all costs.—
Radhika Seth,
Vogue,
9 Feb. 2025
-
With a seasoned detective (Schram) on the hunt for this ruthless killer, numerous suspects come to light, and each new revelation leads to a shocking twist.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
7 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The pint-sized assassin pulls a gun out of her fuzzy heart throw pillow and gets to work.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
18 Feb. 2025
-
Assassin's Creed Shadows continues the everlasting war between noble assassins and shifty templars.—
Jordan Minor,
PCMAG,
13 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Even though the Hamas charter directly calls for the murder of all Jews, all people must speak out against the immoral proposal to force an entire population into exile.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
14 Feb. 2025
-
The Mann Act criminalizes transporting people across state lines for immoral purposes.—
John Annese,
New York Daily News,
12 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Right Now The first reveal comes when Ally and Jay decide to fight Heart Eyes rather than flee when the masked murderer is killing people left and right at a drive-in movie theater.—
James Grebey,
TIME,
7 Feb. 2025
-
A bit of detective work ascertained its surprising provenance: The crate was an unsolicited donation from eccentric wrestling fanatic and convicted murderer John du Pont, an heir to the chemical company fortune who had attended UM decades earlier.—
Andres Viglucci,
Miami Herald,
2 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
This is part of the most corrupt bargain in American history. KARL: But are their counterpunches having any impact at all?—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 Feb. 2025
-
Eric Adams has been a lousy mayor for the most part, one who couldn’t see the loaf for the crumbs and squandered his political capital on maintaining a dizzying array of corrupt friends and cronies.—
Harry Siegel,
New York Daily News,
15 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The story follows ex-addict Kirsty, played by Simone McIntyre, who risks her new life by re-entering the brutal world of heroin and prostitution, and unknowingly the stalking grounds of a serial killer, to save her best friend Becky, played by Bear Thompson.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
16 Feb. 2025
-
His characteristically sparse prose only makes this portrait of a necrophiliac serial killer haunting the hill country of eastern Tennessee that much more disturbing: Lester Ballard makes Norman Bates look like Beaver Cleaver.—
M.L. Rio,
New York Times,
14 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The Breaking Bad universe expanded after the original series’ final episode, exploring the origin story of unscrupulous attorney Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) in Better Call Saul.—
Will Harris,
EW.com,
31 Jan. 2025
-
The Briarcliff Entertainment and Rich Spirit movie follows Donald Trump (Stan) during his early New York City real estate days as he’s mentored by an unscrupulous attorney Roy Cohn (Strong).—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
30 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
The notorious Sackler family, opioid pushers responsible for countless cases of addiction and death, can’t seem to settle their legal problems without turning to some kind of unprincipled maneuver.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Feb. 2025
-
Objective voters who watched the recent documentary about Lev Parnas, once a Trump ally, should fear a redux of a Cabinet running the government for an angry, unhinged, unprincipled man.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
1 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near cutthroat
Cite this Entry
“Cutthroat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cutthroat. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share