Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use cutthroat in a sentence

14 example sentences · noun, adjective

Cutthroat means a murderer who slits the throats of victims. Example: “He found that playing cutthroat Spades was much more difficult than playing with a partner.”

Examples of cutthroat by meaning

adjectiveOf or relating to a card game where everyone plays for him or herself rather than playing with a partner.

  • He found that playing cutthroat Spades was much more difficult than playing with a partner.

adjectiveRuthlessly competitive, dog-eat-dog.

  • Law is a cutthroat business, you always have to look out to see who is trying to outdo you.
  • While these esports are often framed as battles of mental strategies and mechanical skills, how players juggle their hundreds, or thousands, of simultaneously ticking clocks and timers defines their ability to succeed in cutthroat competitions.2023 December 1, Evelynn Kersting, “GAMES AND TIME”, in University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, page 9, archived from the original on 06 Jun 2025

More sentences with cutthroat

  • This is a cutthroat industry. You have to constantly look over your shoulder.From the entry look over one's shoulder
  • Cutthroat compounds name things or people by describing what they do.2015 May 22, Stan Carey, “The Kick-butt World of Cutthroat Compounds”, in Slate Lexicon Valley. From the entry cutthroat compound
  • When I first came into the league, the trash talk was downright cutthroat."February 6, 2013, Jackie MacMullan, article: Kobe Bryant Dishes on Celtics, ESPN online. From the entry talk trash
  • Now, for the rest of the talk I'm going to be calling them cutthroat compounds, so don't worry about that.[2013 November 14, Brianne Hughes, “Cutthroat Backstabbers: The Devious World of English Verb-Noun Compounding”, in YouTube, archived from…. From the entry cutthroat compound
  • Many times this will even include cutthroat behavior like pursuing a girl that one of his guy "friends" is already chasing.2005, Michael DiMarco, Marriable: Taking the Desperate Out of Dating, Revell, →ISBN, page 103. From the entry guy code
  • His cutthroat authority — never more than throat-deep.1987, Naomi Doudiai, “Katharine Meets Marco”, in The Jerusalem Post Magazine. From the entry throat-deep
  • Rocket Leaguers who are prepared to bounce from relaxed play into something more serious ought to be exceptional on the different cutthroat Ranks and Divisions in the game.2022 July 23, Saloni Singh, “Rocket League Tiers: What Does It Divisions And Ranks Signify?”, in Trending News Buzz, archived from the…. From the entry Rocket Leaguer
  • Privateers, such as Osborne and Gaebler, promise that good competition will not become bad — will not become cutthroat competition — if good competition is "carefully structured and managed;"2001, George Beam, Quality Public Management: What it is and how it Can be Improved and […]. From the entry privateer
  • "I can't leave you here alone with these cutthroats, and you certainly can't venture into the jungle with me; yet someone must go in search of your father.1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes. From the entry impractical
  • The world’s richest person, not known for his humility, is still learning the cutthroat courtier politics of Donald Trump’s inner circle — and his ultimate influence remains an open question.2024 November 22, Theodore Schleifer, “Elon Musk Gets a Crash Course in How Trumpworld Works”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The…. From the entry courtier
  • “I say he’s a murdering cutthroat,” fanfares the ostrich-plumed young champion of slavery for the benefit of the pre-lunch throng congregating in the bakeoven air outside Morrison’s Cafe & Groggery.1995, Bruce Olds, Raising Holy Hell, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, page 167. From the entry bakeoven

Meaning of cutthroat

  1. noun A murderer who slits the throats of victims.
  2. noun An unscrupulous, ruthless or unethical person.
  3. noun A three-player pocket billiards game where the object is to be the last player with at least one ball still on the table.

Full definition of cutthroat

Questions about cutthroat in a sentence

How do you use cutthroat in a sentence?
Cutthroat is used as a noun and adjective. For example: “He found that playing cutthroat Spades was much more difficult than playing with a partner.”
What is a short sentence with cutthroat?
“His cutthroat authority — never more than throat-deep.”
What does cutthroat mean?
Cutthroat means a murderer who slits the throats of victims.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cutthroat (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use cutthroat in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/cutthroat. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.