cruel
[kroo-uh l]
- willfully or knowingly causing pain or distress to others.
- enjoying the pain or distress of others: the cruel spectators of the gladiatorial contests.
- causing or marked by great pain or distress: a cruel remark; a cruel affliction.
- rigid; stern; strict; unrelentingly severe.
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Origin of cruel
1175–1225; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin crūdēlis, equivalent to crūd(us) (see crude) + -ēlis adj. suffix
Synonyms
See more synonyms for cruel on Thesaurus.com1. bloodthirsty, ferocious, merciless, relentless.
Synonym study
1. Cruel, pitiless, ruthless, brutal, savage imply readiness to cause pain to others. Cruel implies willingness to cause pain, and indifference to suffering: a cruel stepfather. Pitiless adds the idea of refusal to show compassion: pitiless to captives. Ruthless implies cruelty and unscrupulousness, letting nothing stand in one's way: ruthless greed. Brutal implies cruelty that takes the form of physical violence: a brutal master. Savage suggests fierceness and brutality: savage battles.
Antonyms
1. kind. 2. sympathetic, compassionate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cruel
Contemporary Examples
His later books drew heavily from experiences and people he encountered at the bar, including the cruel captain in The Sea-Wolf.
Not to those in power, not to the cruel and inhumane, not to the wealthy.
Hatuey replied that he would rather burn and be sent to hell than ever again encounter people as cruel as the Spanish.
The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left BehindBrin-Jonathan Butler
December 19, 2014
The story of Alstory Simon has all the scope and scale, the cruel reversals, and pointless waste of proper tragedy.
Vsevolod Meyerhold, the great theater director, spoke of the effect the “angry, cruel headlines” had on his friend.
Historical Examples
They were kind-hearted and rarely did anything that was cruel.
Ancient ManHendrik Willem van Loon
Supposing—— It was cruel to excite and upset her just for that; it made the pain worse.
Life and Death of Harriett FreanMay Sinclair
The contrasts were so cruel that they scorched the eyes of the soul.
The Conquest of FearBasil King
Those who bring them on us seem captious, thoughtless, cruel.
The Conquest of FearBasil King
"He is cruel, and the very incarnation of selfishness," he said.
Weighed and WantingGeorge MacDonald
cruel
- causing or inflicting pain without pitya cruel teacher
- causing pain or sufferinga cruel accident
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French, from Latin crūdēlis, from crūdus raw, bloody
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for cruel
adj.
early 13c., from Old French cruel (12c.), earlier crudel, from Latin crudelis "rude, unfeeling; cruel, hard-hearted," related to crudus "rough, raw, bloody" (see crude). Related: Cruelly.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper