Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RE-LENT'LESS, a.

Unmoved by pity; unpitying; insensible to the distresses of others; destitute of tenderness; as, a prey to relentless despotism. For this th' avenging pow'r employs his darts, / Thus will persist, relentless in his ire. – Dryden. Relentless thoughts, in Milton, may signify unremitted, intently fixed on disquieting objects. – Johnson. [This sense of the word is unusual and not to be countenanced.]