1. ruthless, unscrupulous people who will harm others to achieve their goals
Usage: informal
2. murderers or assassins
Usage: informal

Examples

• The business world is full of cutthroats who will do anything for profit.
• Those cutthroats destroyed the small company to eliminate competition.
• The detective was hunting a gang of cutthroats responsible for several murders.
• In the old western movies, cutthroats often terrorized frontier towns.
• She warned him about the cutthroats in the political arena.
• The cutthroats showed no mercy to their victims.