Definition

Adverb: * In a manner that is completely lacking in sympathy, kindness, or pity; cruelly and without compassion.

Usage

The adverb "heartlessly" is used to describe how an action is performed. It modifies verbs to indicate that the action was done in a cruel, unfeeling, or merciless way. It often carries a strong negative judgment.

Examples

• The landlord heartlessly evicted the family just before the holidays.
• He heartlessly ignored the pleas for help from the injured animal.
• The critic heartlessly mocked the young artist's first exhibition.

Advanced Usage

• "to act heartlessly": To behave in a cruel and unfeeling manner.
  • The corporation acted heartlessly by laying off thousands of workers without severance.
• "to be heartlessly efficient": To perform a task with such ruthless effectiveness that human feelings are completely disregarded.
  • The new manager was heartlessly efficient, focusing only on numbers and quotas.

Variants and Related Words

• Heartless (adjective): Lacking in feeling or compassion; unkind.
  • A heartless decision.
• Heartlessness (noun): The quality or state of being heartless.
  • The heartlessness of the crime shocked the community.

Synonyms

• Cruelly
• Mercilessly
• Callously
• Unfeelingly
• Ruthlessly

Antonyms

• Compassionately
• Kindly
• Sympathetically
• Mercifully

Related Phrases

• With a heart of stone: (Idiom) Describing someone who is very cold and unfeeling.
  • He dismissed their suffering with a heart of stone.
• Without a shred of pity/mercy: (Phrase) Acting with complete absence of compassion.
  • The tyrant ruled without a shred of mercy.

Adverb

1. in a heartless manner
   • she behaves rather heartlessly toward her admirers