What does remorselessness mean?
Remorselessness means a complete or persistent lack of remorse: the regret and moral unease that ordinarily follow wrongdoing or causing harm. The word is especially used to characterize people, institutions, or actions that proceed without compassion or regard for the consequences they impose on others. It carries a strongly critical tone and is commonly associated with cruelty, exploitation, persecution, or relentless self-interest. Although it can describe an individual emotion, it is more often used for an apparent disposition or pattern of conduct, as in a reference to a regime's remorselessness or a corporation's remorseless pursuit of profit. The term is more explicit and morally severe than simply saying that someone is “unapologetic,” because it emphasizes not only the absence of apology but also the absence of regret and concern for suffering.
nounThe absence of remorse or regret for wrongdoing, especially as a characteristic of a person or course of action.
- The absence of remorse, regret, or compassion for wrongdoing.
"The campaign was conducted with such remorselessness that its defenders dismissed the suffering of civilians as unavoidable."
"The documentary criticized the remorselessness with which the company defended its practices."
"Her remorselessness in pursuing the inquiry made the controversy all the more severe."
The noun is normally used in the uncountable singular; the plural is grammatically possible but rarely needed in ordinary use.
"The study examines the remorselessnesses of totalitarian rule."
Remorselessness turns forgetting the past into a deliberate moral choice.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does remorselessness come from?
The word is formed from remorseless, meaning “without remorse,” together with the noun suffix -ness. Remorseless in turn combines remorse with -less, while remorse comes through Old French from Latin remorsus, a past participle of remordere, meaning “to bite again” and figuratively “to torment oneself.” The Latin elements re- and mordere, “to bite,” also underlie the cognate word mordant.
Related word forms
How remorselessness is actually used
An abstract, typically formal noun used mainly in moral or historical discussion. It is usually treated as uncountable and suggests a sustained absence of regret rather than merely a momentary failure to feel sorry.
Easily confused with remorselessness
Remorse is the regret or moral distress felt after doing something wrong, whereas remorselessness is the absence of such regret.