ruthfully

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle English rewthfully, equivalent to ruthful +‎ -ly.

Adverb

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ruthfully (comparative more ruthfully, superlative most ruthfully)

  1. (manner) In a manner that is ruthful:
    1. Sorrowfully, ruefully.
    2. In a manner that causes pity; piteously.
      • 1997, Neil W. Hamilton (quoting Owen Lattimore), Zealotry and Academic Freedom, page 313,
        This commonplace observation becomes very poignant when you are the man accused, and a man like McCarthy ruthfully exploits his advantage by making the accusations so sensational that the revelation of the truth seems drab and dull by comparison.
    3. Compassionately; mercifully.
      • 1999, Joseph L. Harsh, Taken at the Flood: Robert E. Lee and Confederate Strategy in the Maryland Campaign of 1862, page 285:
        Lee's wait was ruthfully short, although he might have traded the first news that reached him for a return to uncertainty.

Anagrams

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Middle English

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Adverb

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ruthfully

  1. Alternative form of rewthfully