Cutthroat
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Pronunciation /ˈkʌtθɹoʊt/ · Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Cutthroat is a noun meaning A murderer who slits the throats of victims.
Meaning
A murderer who slits the throats of victims.
More Meanings
- An unscrupulous, ruthless or unethical person.
- (uncountable) A three-player pocket billiards game where the object is to be the last player with at least one ball still on the table.
- (linguistics) Ellipsis of cutthroat compound (“an agentive-instrumental verb-noun compound word”).
- Involving the cutting of throats.
- Of or relating to a card game where everyone plays for him or herself rather than playing with a partner.
- Ruthlessly competitive, dog-eat-dog.
Example Sentences
He found that playing cutthroat Spades was much more difficult than playing with a partner.
Law is a cutthroat business, you always have to look out to see who is trying to outdo you.
Children go through a phase of compound acquisition in which they invent cutthroats spontaneously before dropping the habit again.
More specifically, Scrabblers are diehard, competitive, and occasionally cutthroat players who treat the game like it's chess or baseball.
Word Forms
- cutthroats
- cut-throat
- cut throat
Synonyms for cutthroat
Depending on context, synonyms include fierce, merciless, bloody, homicidal, murderous, bowelless.
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include murderous, homicidal, fierce, bloody, merciless, unmerciful.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.