Reutheful

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Feeling or showing deep pity, sorrow and tenderness toward someone who is suffering or in distress
2. Full of ruth, meaning compassionate and moved to sympathy by the misfortunes or grief of others
3. Describing a person or manner marked by tender sorrow and a readiness to pity those who are in woe

Etymology: "Reutheful" is built on "ruth," an older spelling of the noun that English took from Old English "hrēow," meaning sorrow or distress. The same root gave us the verb "rue," which originally meant to feel sorrow over something. The noun's sense softened over time from distress toward pity, the tender feeling one has for another's suffering. The adjective is that noun plus the suffix "-ful," meaning full of, so it describes someone full of compassion. The twist lies in the negative. "Ruthless," formed with "-less," outlived its positive counterpart in everyday use, so "ruthless" is the familiar word today, while "reutheful" and its relatives survive as rare, archaic-sounding variants.

Synonyms: compassionate, merciful, pitying, sympathetic

Antonyms: ruthless, merciless, pitiless, cruel