Fully dense THCN) based carbonitride ceramics were fabricated by pressureless sintering. During sintering, solid solutions were formed from the ceramic ingredients. The ceramics exhibited microvickers hardness of 1560-2050kgf/mm2, fracture toughness of 3.0-5.4 MPa $m^(1/2)$, and three point flexural strength of 645-1072 MPa. Some of the ceramics were shaped in a cutting tool, and the cutting performance was evaluated. In case of cutting SCM440 alloy steel, the ceramics showed better performance than the commercially available alumina-titanium carbide ceramic cutting tool. Considering the excellent productivity of pressureless sintering compared with other densification methods and their cutting performance, this new class of ceramics are very promising for wear resistant applications.