cruelty

[kroo-uhl-tee]

noun

plural

cruelties 

1. the state or quality of being cruel.

   Synonyms: atrocity, inhumanity, barbarity, ruthlessness, brutality, harshness

2. cruel disposition or conduct.

   Antonyms: kindness

3. a cruel act.

   Antonyms: kindness

4. Law.,  conduct by a spouse that causes grievous bodily harm or mental suffering.

cruelty

/ ˈkruːəltɪ /

noun

1. deliberate infliction of pain or suffering

2. the quality or characteristic of being cruel

3. a cruel action

4. 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of cruelty¹

1175–1225; Middle English cruelte < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin crūdēlitāt- (stem of crūdēlitās ). See cruel, -ity

Example Sentences

It’s not just that, as Adam Serwer declared, the cruelty is the point; the cruelty is the only tool it has.

Read more on Salon

Violence, enacted as retaliation for the cruelty dealt by the hands of the rich and powerful, momentarily levels the playing field.

Read more on Salon

The group also argued that attorneys were restricted on presenting animal cruelty evidence during the trial.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“They are deliberate acts of cruelty designed to deepen the families’ suffering and prolong Hamas’s control.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Their personal reasons weren't always about climate change -- one cared about air pollution, another about animal cruelty -- but their efforts are helping to bring down planet-warming emissions all the same, showing how environmental causes overlap.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• barbarism 
• barbarity 
• inhumanity 
• malice 
• persecution 
• savagery 
• torture