Ruthful

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈɹuːθ.fʊl/

Definitions

1. Evincing a strong sense of compassion towards the suffering of others and displaying heartfelt sympathy for their misfortunes in life
2. Demonstrating a deep empathy for the hardships and sorrows experienced by others while showing genuine pity for their struggles
3. Expressing sincere concern and kindness toward those facing difficulties

Etymology: "Ruthful" is a plain compound: "ruth", meaning pity or compassion, with the suffix "-ful", meaning "full of". Together they mean full of pity. The word came into English from Middle English "reutheful" and "reuthful", which were built the same way from "ruth" and "-ful". The base "ruth" is older and more interesting than the suffix. It descends from an Old English word, "hrēow", meaning sorrow or distress, which is related to the verb "rue". Over time "ruth" shifted from sorrow toward the compassion we now associate with it. The Old Norse "hrygðr", meaning sorrow, also contributed to the Middle English form "ruth", which is why the spelling and sound took the shape they did. "Ruthful" is now uncommon, and "ruthless" is its far more familiar relative. Both words grew from the same "ruth" stem, but "ruthless" took the opposite path, meaning without pity.

Synonyms: compassionate, merciful, sympathetic

Antonyms: ruthless, cruel