Meaning & use
ruth
A feeling of pity or compassion for someone's suffering or misfortune (archaic).
See it in a sentence
The old poem describes a knight who showed ruth toward his defeated enemy.
Even the harsh judge felt a flicker of ruth for the frightened child.
A note on using this word
Ruth survives mainly in the negative form 'ruthless'; the standalone word is now archaic or literary and rarely used in everyday speech.
Words with a similar meaning
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Another way to use it
2. proper noun
A biblical woman and the title of a book of the Hebrew Bible, also used as a given name.
The Book of Ruth tells the story of loyalty between a widow and her mother-in-law.
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