pitilesslyadv.
/ˈpɪtɪlᵻsli/, U.S. /ˈpɪdilᵻsli/ In a pitiless manner. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > compassion > pitilessness > [adverb]
unpiteouslyc1390
unruefullya1400
unruthfullya1400
vengeably1412
ruthlessly1581
unpitifully1587
inhumanely1598
pitilessly1611
uncompassionately1612
incompassionately1639
unpityingly1741
impitiably1835
tearlessly1853
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Atrocement Most cruelly, pittilesly.
1799 H. Hunter tr. C. S. Sonnini Trav. Upper & Lower Egypt I. 277 Young women keep themselves as nature made them, and it is not till the very day of marriage that they are pitilessly stripped of the veil of nature [sc. of body hair].
1848 W. K. Kelly tr. L. Blanc Hist. Ten Years II. 353 He was pitilessly dragged along the passages, up or down the stairs.
1885 Cent. Mag. May 26/2 He is but one in a great community of wretchedness which has been pitilessly repeating itself from the foundation of the world.
1914 J. Joyce Dubliners 37 The air was pitilessly raw and already my heart misgave me.
1995 Independent 30 Sept. (Weekend section) 5/2 This is a novel stuffed with lovingly detailed observations of Nineties London street life and crappy corporate-speak, both pitilessly nailed by a master satirist.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1611