Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Ruthless in competition; fierce and merciless: Describes a situation, activity, or person characterized by extreme and often unfair competitiveness, where opponents are willing to harm each other to succeed.
   • Involving or given to cutting throats: Literally relating to the act of cutting someone's throat.

2. Noun:

   • A murderer who kills by cutting the victim's throat: A person who commits murder using this specific, violent method.
   • A ruthless, unscrupulous, or fiercely competitive person: Used figuratively to describe someone who acts without principles to get ahead.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • The industry is known for its cutthroat business practices.
  • They faced cutthroat competition from larger companies.

• Noun:

  • The historical novel featured a pirate who was a notorious cutthroat.
  • In the world of high finance, he was considered a real cutthroat.

Advanced Usage

• "cutthroat world/industry/environment": A common collocation describing a sector or context known for extreme, often unethical, competition.
  • She thrived in the cutthroat world of politics.

Variants and Related Words

• Cutthroat razor: (noun) An old-fashioned, open-blade razor used for shaving.
  • He collects antique cutthroat razors.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Ruthless, fierce, merciless, dog-eat-dog, vicious, brutal.
• Noun: Murderer, assassin, killer; (figuratively) shark, predator.

Related Phrases

• "cutthroat pricing": A business strategy of setting prices so low that competitors are driven out of the market.
  • The new store engaged in cutthroat pricing to capture market share.

Adjective

1. ruthless in competition
   • cutthroat competition
   • bowelless readiness to take advantage

Noun

1. someone who murders by cutting the victim's throat