adj
cutthroat
KUHTTH-roht
adj
1
Ruthlessly competitive, with no regard for fairness or the interests of others.
"The airline industry is known for its cutthroat pricing wars."
"She thrived in the cutthroat world of corporate law."
2
Describing a variant of a card or board game where each player competes individually rather than in teams.
"They played cutthroat bridge, with no partnerships allowed."
How to Use Cutthroat
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishExtremely, ruthlessly competitive — used for business, sport, or any situation where people fight hard to win at others' expense.
Common pairings
cutthroat competition
cutthroat business
cutthroat game
Word Forms
more cutthroat comparative, most cutthroat superlative
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The airline industry is known for its _____ pricing wars.
Etymology
A compound of cut and throat, originally describing someone literally willing to slit a throat — a murderer or assassin — before it softened into today's figurative sense of ruthless competition.