If you describe a situation as cut-throat, you mean that the people or companies involved all want success and do not care if they harm each other in getting it.
[disapproval]
...cut-throat competition.
...the cut-throat world of international finance.
Synonyms: competitive, fierce, ruthless, relentless More Synonyms of cut-throat
More Synonyms of cut-throat
cut-throat in British English
noun
1.
a person who cuts throats; murderer
2. Also called: cut-throat razor British
a razor with a long blade that usually folds into the handle
US name: straight razor
adjective
3.
bloodthirsty or murderous; cruel
4.
fierce or relentless in competition
cut-throat prices
5.
(of some games) played by three people
cut-throat poker
Examples of 'cut-throat' in a sentence
cut-throat
They are millionaires who show little emotion in the cut-throat business world.
The Sun (2010)
Would they have been more empathetic and less cut-throat?
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
In such a cut-throat industry that is how it has to be.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Minor adaptations to meet their particular needs can become a hedge against cut-throat price competition.
Tom Cannon Basic Marketing. Principles and Practice (1986)
The odds were stacked against her making it in the cut-throat music industry after a tough upbringing.
The Sun (2010)
That enabled small booksellers to survive in an increasingly cut-throat world.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The acting and modelling business can be cut-throat.
The Sun (2012)
American football is a very cut-throat industry.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
It is a highly contemporary depiction of a society of cut-throat competition.
The Times Literary Supplement (2010)
But how many actually get to live the dream in the cut-throat music business?
The Sun (2012)
Pure cash equities remains a cut-throat business and there is still too much capacity out there.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Confidence in website security and cut-throat competition has also lured shoppers online.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Competition will be cut-throat keen as artists jostle for a place in the global spotlight.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
By no means those who encourage cut-throat competition between national firms at home.
Hirst, Paul After Thatcher (1989)
Ten are about to become nine as the teams are plunged in to the cut-throat world of advertising.
The Sun (2006)
But in the cut-throat world of the modern motors industry does sponsoring football really sell you more cars?
The Sun (2013)
I was going from the youth team where results are not that important to a cut-throat industry.
The Sun (2015)
I only wish there were more like him in the cut-throat music business.
The Sun (2015)
It's a cut-throat business out there.
The Sun (2011)
That he is a nice man but not nasty enough for the cut-throat world of the Premiership.
The Sun (2006)
No company, no two men and their collaborators have been so influential over four decades in such a cut-throat business.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In other languages
cut-throat
British English: cut-throat ADJECTIVE
If you describe a situation as cut-throat, you mean that the people or companies involved all want success and do not care if they harm each other in getting it.
...the cut-throat competition in personal computers.