UNMERCIFUL Synonyms: 160 Similar and Opposite Words

unmerciful

adjective

ˌən-ˈmər-si-fəl

Definition of unmerciful

as in excessive

going beyond a normal or acceptable limit in degree or amount she went into an unmerciful level of detail about her latest health problems

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in ruthless

having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings the critics were unmerciful in their assessments of the young actress's performance

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 unmerciful The result was unmerciful but gloriously funny, especially when Christine Baranski‘s liberal Diane Lockhart hallucinated news reports about Trump keeping a potbellied pig in the White House map room. — Lynette Rice, Deadline, 20 May 2025 The drought is a source of mockery towards RCB, with opposition fans unmerciful in their scorn towards them and particularly Kohli. — Tristan Lavalette, Forbes, 20 Mar. 2025 Yet viewers admire Oz’s aptitude to survive, his unmerciful resolve. — Jason Parham, WIRED, 26 Dec. 2024 His take on Prince Philip is both humanizing and unmerciful, cutting to the bone of a man portrayed in contradictory terms — petulant yet statesmanlike, intensely ambitious yet ineffectual, relatable one minute and contemptible the next. — Will Harris, EW.com, 30 July 2024 The temperature climbed as more gas pushed and compressed itself into the small space, and the heat became unmerciful, exacerbated by the syrupy sensation of the increasingly dense atmosphere. — Rachel Lance, WIRED, 16 Apr. 2024 In Nazi ideology, descent was destiny—inescapable, unmerciful, and total. — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 20 July 2023 What hit viewers, then and now, with the strength of an unmerciful iceberg is how entirely uncynical this movie is. — Chris Snellgrove, EW.com, 15 Dec. 2022

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unmerciful

Adjective

Dry eye disease is tied to excessive tear evaporation or inflammation on the eye’s surface.

— Samantha Agate, Sacbee.com, 19 Oct. 2026
The researchers also reported that giving testosterone after injury reduced the excessive cardiovascular reactivity caused by traumatic brain injury in their model.

— Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of excessive

Adjective

The book’s humor is sharp and merciless, akin to that of a standup comedy show, and yet the things described are far from funny.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2026
Cora, the granddaughter of a woman kidnapped from West Africa and sold into slavery, flees her captor’s plantation, plunging her into the book’s alternate steampunk reality where she is pursued by the merciless slave catcher Ridgeway.

— David Faris, TheWeek, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of merciless

Adjective

First and foremost, as a homeowner myself the property taxes are insane and continue to go up.

— Stephen Korka, Sun Sentinel, 13 Oct. 2026
That may be the name of her next album, but Venus’ insane popularity also speaks to the way Metropia is moving forward, constantly looking for the next shiny thing.

— Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of insane

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

Adjective

Like most of the country’s entries over the past decade, this blockbuster epic — a summer box office hit at home — makes for an extravagant display of the strength of the nation’s commercial film industry.

— Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026
Noem was also under fire for extravagant spending at the department, while placing restrictions on FEMA disaster relief funds.

— Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of extravagant

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unmentioned

unmerciful

unmercifully

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“Unmerciful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unmerciful. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of unmerciful

adjective

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