heartlessly

/ˈhɑːtləsli/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈhɑːrtləsli/ (ame, ipa)

heartlessly — adverb

1. doing something cruel while feeling no pity, kindness, or concern for the person

1.副詞C1
釋義

doing something cruel while feeling no pity, kindness, or concern for the person you are hurting.

例句

The landlord heartlessly evicted the elderly couple two days before Christmas.

verb + heartlessly: describes a cruel action toward vulnerable people

Shanti laughed heartlessly when her younger brother dropped his birthday cake on the floor.

post-verbal position with a named subject and clear victim

同義詞
  • cruelly

    more general; covers physical and emotional harm

  • callously

    stresses absence of feeling rather than active cruelty

  • coldly

    milder; emphasizes emotional detachment, not always harm

  • mercilessly

    stresses refusal to stop or forgive, often in punishment

反義詞

文法句型

verb + heartlessly

heartlessly + past participle

用法筆記

Almost always modifies an action that harms a specific weaker party (employees, family members, animals, victims). Sounds odd when the target is abstract or absent.

常見錯誤

❌Heloísa heartlessly enjoyed her coffee.
✅Heloísa heartlessly told the waiter he was fired.
💡needs a victim of the cruel action, not a neutral activity.
❌The exam was heartlessly difficult.
✅The exam was brutally difficult.
💡'heartlessly' needs an agent showing cruelty, not an inanimate quality.