heartlessness.

A lack of sympathy or concern for other people's suffering.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• sheer heartlessness
• the heartlessness of a decision

On the page

What shocked her was not the refusal itself but the heartlessness with which it was delivered.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: usually uncountable; no ordinary plural. Writing functions: character, evaluation, moral judgment. Commonness: moderately common. Established independent abstract noun; no assumed intensity score.