Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ruthful

/ˈɹuːθ.fʊl/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: ruth-ful
IPA: /ˈɹuːθ.fʊl/

13

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Full of sorrow; sorrowful; woeful; rueful.

adj

Causing pity; piteous.

adj

Full of ruth or pity; merciful; compassionate.

Example Sentences

"An if it please thee! why, assure thee, Lucius, / 'Twill vex thy soul to hear what I shall speak; / For I must talk of murders, rapes, and massacres, / Acts of black night, abominable deeds, / Complots of mischief, treason, villainies, / Ruthful to hear, yet piteously perform'd:"
"When last this ruthful month was come, / And in Linlithgow’s holy dome / The King, as wont, was praying; [...]"
"Then he bestowed robes of honour on the nurses wet and dry and said to them, "Be ye ruthful over them and rear them after the goodliest fashion.""

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *hrewwaną Proto-West Germanic *hreuwan Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Germanic *-ō Proto-West Germanic *-u Proto-West Germanic *hreuwu Old English hrēow Middle English rewe Middle English -the Old Norse hrygðinflu. Middle English reuþe Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós Proto-Germanic *fullaz Proto-Germanic *-fullaz Old English -ful Middle English -ful Middle English reuþful English ruthful From Middle English reuþful, reuthful, reowthful, equivalent to ruth + -ful.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: reuþful
Suffix: ruth

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈɹuːθ.fʊl/
British English: /ˈɹuːθ.fʊl/

Inflected Forms

more ruthful (comparative) most ruthful (superlative)

Derived Forms

ruthfully ruthfulness

Frequently Paired Words

ruth

Synonyms

lamentful mournful wistful atrabiliary atrabilious blitheless dispirited blue bummed out chapfallen cheerless chopfallen

Antonyms

merciless ruthless

Questions

How do you pronounce ruthful?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɹuːθ.fʊl/.
What does ruthful mean?: Full of sorrow; sorrowful; woeful; rueful.
Where does ruthful come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce ruthful

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ruthful”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɹuːθ.fʊl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “ruthful”.
Repeat and practice — Say “ruthful” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.