relentless

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English relent

Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der.

Proto-Germanic *leusaną

Proto-Germanic *lausaz

Proto-Germanic *-lausaz

Proto-West Germanic *-laus

Old English -lēas

Middle English -les

English -less

English relentless

From relent + -less.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈlɛntləs/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Adjective

relentless (comparative more relentless, superlative most relentless)

1. Unrelenting or unyielding in severity.
   • 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 111:

     She sniffed, too, comprehendingly, and fixed her son with a relentless eye.

2. Steady and persistent; unremitting.
   • 2016 January 31, “Is Huma Abedin Hillary Clinton’s Secret Weapon or Her Next Big Problem?”, in Vanity Fair, retrieved 21 January 2016:

     In Clintonworld, the reaction to Grassley’s relentless assault on Huma is one of resignation.

Derived terms

• relentlessly
• relentlessness
• unrelentless

Translations

unrelenting or unyielding in severity — see also unrelenting,‎ implacable,‎ furious,‎ merciless

• Arabic: عَدِيم الشَّفَقَة (ʕadīm aš-šafaqa), قَاسٍ (qāsin)
• Bulgarian: неумоли́м (bg) (neumolím), непрекло́нен (bg) (nepreklónen)
• Catalan: implacable (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 永無止境 / 永无止境 (zh) (yǒngwúzhǐjìng)

• Czech: neúprosný, nelítostný, nemilosrdný (cs), nesmiřitelný
• Dutch: meedogenloos (nl)
• Finnish: leppymätön (fi), säälimätön (fi), heltymätön
• French: implacable (fr), impitoyable (fr)
• Galician: implacábel (gl), desapiadado (gl)
• Georgian: დაუცხრომელი (daucxromeli), დაუღალავი (dauɣalavi), ულმობელი (ulmobeli)
• German: unnachgiebig (de), unbarmherzig (de), unnachsichtig, unerbittlich (de)
• Irish: gan staonadh
• Italian: implacabile (it)
• Māori: papahueke
• Polish: nieubłagany (pl), nieugięty (pl), nieustępliwy (pl)
• Portuguese: implacável (pt)
• Romanian: sever (ro)
• Russian: неумоли́мый (ru) (neumolímyj), непрекло́нный (ru) (nepreklónnyj), (merciless) беспоща́дный (ru) (bespoščádnyj), безжа́лостный (ru) (bezžálostnyj)
• Spanish: no relenteciente
• Ukrainian: безжа́лісний (uk) (bezžálisnyj), безжа́льний (uk) (bezžálʹnyj)

steady and persistent — see also inexorable,‎ implacable,‎ untirable,‎ incessant,‎ unremitting

• Bulgarian: неотсла́бващ (bg) (neotslábvašt)
• Catalan: inexorable (ca)
• Czech: nepolevující (cs), trvalý (cs) m, vytrvalý (cs) m, neochabujicí, neustálý (cs) m, nepřetržitý (cs) m, nekonečný (cs) m
• Dutch: voortdurend (nl)
• Finnish: periksiantamaton (fi), sinnikäs (fi)
• French: tenace (fr)
• Galician: inexorábel (gl), incesante
• German: unablässig (de), unermüdlich (de)
• Irish: síorleanúnach
• Italian: tenace (it)
• Latin: inexōrābilis
• Māori: āwai, papahueke
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nådeløs

• Polish: bezustanny (pl)
• Portuguese: inexorável (pt)
• Russian: упо́рный (ru) (upórnyj), неослабева́ющий (ru) (neoslabevájuščij)
• Spanish: no relenteciente
• Ukrainian: невпи́нний (nevpýnnyj)