cruelty
Americannoun
plural
cruelties-
the state or quality of being cruel.
- Synonyms:
- atrocity, inhumanity, barbarity, ruthlessness, brutality, harshness
-
cruel disposition or conduct.
- Antonyms:
- kindness
-
a cruel act.
- Antonyms:
- kindness
-
Law. conduct by a spouse that causes grievous bodily harm or mental suffering.
noun
-
deliberate infliction of pain or suffering
-
the quality or characteristic of being cruel
-
a cruel action
-
law conduct that causes danger to life or limb or a threat to bodily or mental health, on proof of which a decree of divorce may be granted
Other Word Forms
- anticruelty adjective
- self-cruelty noun
Etymology
Origin of cruelty
1175–1225; Middle English cruelte < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin crūdēlitāt- (stem of crūdēlitās ). See cruel, -ity
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sometimes it’s the chaos, not the cruelty, that’s the point.
From Slate • Apr. 1, 2026
It was like “The Truman Show” mixed with “Twelve Angry Men,” or a segment of “Candid Camera” stretched into a series, or Nathan Fielder’s “The Rehearsal,” minus the neuroses and cruelty.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2026
No deliberate cruelty wounds this dreamy girl, only carelessness and the cataclysm of her mother’s death, which signals “the last day of childhood.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 9, 2026
Use of fur in the global fashion industry has dramatically fallen in recent years due to concerns about animal cruelty, changing trends and new synthetic alternatives.
From Barron's • Mar. 1, 2026
For all his selfishness and cruelty, Kaz was still the boy who had saved her.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
