heartlesslyadv.
/ˈhɑːtləsli/, U.S. /ˈhɑrtləsli/ 1. Without enthusiasm or commitment; dejectedly, half-heartedly, listlessly. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [adverb] > lukewarmly or unenthusiastically
lukely1340
faintlyc1440
slightly1599
with half a heart1600
heartlessly1606
lukewarmly1611
disaffectedly1646
half-heartedly1870
unzealously1871
tepidly1873
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [adverb]
ungladly?c1225
wanlyc1275
dolefullyc1290
ruefullya1300
elengelyc1305
heavisomelya1382
lumpishlyc1450
tristily?c1450
dowlyc1540
unjoyfully1553
tragically1567
dully1600
tragicly1604
heartlessly1606
unjovially1607
dejectedly1611
dejectly1611
disconsolately1614
dumpishly1621
uncheerfullya1628
dolorously1638
mopishly1651
despondingly1656
despondentlya1677
unhappily1688
dismally1709
gloomily1727
grumly1727
joylessly1766
mopingly1788
sombrously1796
glumly1805
malagrugrously1818
funerally1829
broodingly1834
unenjoyingly1844
downheartedly1847
unblissfully1849
droopingly1852
dreichly1853
sombrely1860
dispiritedly1864
glumpily1865
pleasurelessly1873
depressedly1880
chapfallenly1883
sighfully1900
bleakly1938
1606 Bp. J. Hall Arte Diuine Medit. xxxi. 164 I desire to come to thee: but, alas, how weakly? how heartlesly?
1629 J. Cole Of Death 95 We must not heartlesly lye downe, but courageously beare [our cross].
1725 J. Glanvill Poems 55 And there so heartlessly to War we go, the Foe is wish'd the Friend, the Friend the Foe.
1770 G. Stokes Serm. Preached in Marafelt, 1769 14 He soweth and another reapeth..and therefore he toils piningly and heartlessly.
1804 Ann. Rev. & Hist. Lit. 1803 2 552/1 We sit down heartlessly and reluctantly to examine the works of a new candidate for poetical fame.
1880 F. Bourdillon Panoply xii. 142 We are to watch against becoming discouraged in prayer and weary of praying; for that would soon lead to leaving off praying, or, at least, to praying heartlessly.
2001 I. Maisel & K. Whiteside War in Dixie (2002) 85 The dominant theme..is how to motivate a team that played so heartlessly two days before.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > [adverb]
unsensibly1565
insensiblya1603
brainlessly1610
heartlessly1611
unmeaningly1789
vacantly1839
mindlessly1857
uncomprehendingly1858
vacuously1860
insensately1863
incomprehendingly1885
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Bestement..witlesly; dully; heartlesly.
3. Without feeling; callously, cruelly. N.E.D. (1898) adds the definition ‘insincerely', but no clear evidence of this sense has been found. See, however, heartless adj. 4, heartlessness n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > hard-heartedness > [adverb]
cruellya1340
unfeelinglyc1374
hard-heartedly1583
callously1756
heartlessly1806
cold-bloodedly1838
unsympathizingly1856
unsympathetically1860
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [adverb] > callously or hard-heartedly
hard-heartedly1583
callously1756
unfeelingly1768
heartlessly1806
flintily1879
stonily1899
hard-boiledly1920
1806 A. Opie Simple Tales III. 305 I shall not now die unrevenged: but the man who cruelly betrayed and disgraced me, the woman who heartlessly forsook and forgot me, shall learn at length to repent, and bemoan their cruelty!
1857 C. Brontë Professor II. xxii. 134 ‘I wonder whether you'll be still out of place!’ he laughed, as mockingly, as heartlessly as Mephistopheles.
1910 C. Spooner Fortunes of Betty vii. 116 Claude said, heartlessly: ‘She'll die anyway and I can't help it’.
1969 G. Greene Coll. Ess. III. iii. 435 Kurwenal, I am heartlessly glad to say, has ‘passed on’.
2011 Independent 10 Aug. (Viewspaper section) 11/3 Young adults are dumping each other heartlessly via text message or social media.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1606