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

Families of residents accused Castlehill's owners of "cruelty" and "neglect" after a BBC Disclosure investigation revealed a series of care failures.

Read more on BBC

Social media companies say they do not allow animal abuse, cruelty, neglect, or other forms of animal exploitation and remove content that causes distress or harm to animals.

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Jobless inertia and financial strife breed a cruelty that isn’t dissimilar from the cold strike of an employer maintaining their bottom line, cutting 100 workers with the same callousness that they’d cut 1,000.

Read more on Salon

“The biggest difference between previous administrations and the current one is anger and cruelty,” he said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Tyrese Gibson faces one charge of cruelty to animals stemming from a September incident in Fulton County, Ga., that left a neighbor’s 5-year-old dog mauled and dead.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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