heartless
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈhɑɹt.lɪs/
ipa: /ˈhɑːt.lɪs/
rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)tlɪs
Forms: form: more heartless
form: most heartless
Etymology: From Middle English hertles, herteles, from Old English heortlēas (“without courage; listless”), equivalent to heart + -less. Cognate with German herzlos.
Senses: examples: text: His heartless actions and cold manner left her saddened and feeling alone.
text: The world is a dangerous, violent place […] and the only true refuge from this heartless world is the family.
ref: 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:
text: It's safer to be heartless than mindless. The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless.
ref: 1986 January 23, Antony Jay, Jonathan Lynn, “The Smoke Screen”, in Yes, Prime Minister, season 1, episode 3, spoken by Humphrey Appleby (Nigel Hawthorne):
text: 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.
ref: 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:
synonyms: word: cold-hearted
word: uncordial
word: callous
word: cold
word: cold-eyed
word: dour
word: flint-hearted
word: forbidding
word: frosty
word: grim
word: hard
word: hard-boiled
word: hardened
word: hardhearted
word: heartless
word: harsh
word: humorless
word: icy
word: iron-hearted
word: insensitive
word: rigorous
word: rockhearted
word: severe
word: stern
word: stonehearted
word: stony
word: stonyhearted
word: strict
word: tough
word: unsympathetic
word: unmoved
antonyms: hearty#Adjective
heartful#Adjective
;
cordial#Adjective
coordinate_terms: soulless
thoughtless
mindless
glosses: Without feeling, emotion, or concern for others; uncaring; cruel.
synonyms: acardiac
glosses: Without a physical heart.
examples: Near-synonyms: spiritless, unhearty
antonyms: hearty#Adjective
heartful#Adjective
coordinate_terms: halfhearted
glosses: Listless, unenthusiastic.
examples: text: Cecilia then, though almost heartless, resolved upon talking with Mr. Harrel himself […].
ref: 1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia, II.iii.7:
synonyms: word: spineless
word: gutless
word: unhearty
word: boneless
word: chicken
word: chicken-hearted
word: chickenshit
word: cowardly
word: craven
word: dastardly
word: fainthearted
word: fearful
word: heartless
raw_tags: in this sense
word: gutless
word: hen-hearted
word: kiasi
word: lily-livered
word: milky
word: mousy
word: niddering
word: nidering
word: niding
word: nithing
word: poor-spirited
word: pusillanimous
word: sissy
word: spineless
word: timid
word: timorous
word: unhearty
word: weak-kneed
word: wimpish
word: yellow
word: yellow-bellied
antonyms: dauntless
glosses: Without courage; fearful, cowardly.
Derived terms: heartlessly
heartlessness