cruel
Americanadjective
-
willfully or knowingly causing pain or distress to others.
- Synonyms:
- relentless, merciless, ferocious, bloodthirsty
- Antonyms:
- kind
-
enjoying the pain or distress of others.
the cruel spectators of the gladiatorial contests.
- Antonyms:
- compassionate, sympathetic
-
causing or marked by great pain or distress.
a cruel remark;
a cruel affliction.
-
rigid; stern; strict; unrelentingly severe.
adjective
-
causing or inflicting pain without pity
a cruel teacher
-
causing pain or suffering
a cruel accident
Related Words
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.
Other Word Forms
- cruelly adverb
- cruelness noun
- uncruel adjective
- uncruelly adverb
- uncruelness noun
Etymology
Origin of cruel
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin crūdēlis, equivalent to crūd(us) ( crude ) + -ēlis, adjective suffix
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.
They were witness to humanity’s swift decline into a more isolated, cruel and selfish species.
From Salon
The second is a story of brothers – one a samurai, the other a shinobi – pitted against each other by an arrogant, cruel father.
From Salon
Many assume that nearly half of people on major platforms regularly post cruel, aggressive, or abusive comments.
From Science Daily
It’s truly a shocking moment — even Laura herself seems surprised by the cruel words coming out of her mouth when she doubles down on the lie.
From Los Angeles Times
Dying civilizations whose cruel class structures eventually lead to revolution form the basis of so many science-fiction plots that it’s difficult to find a truly unusual take.
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.
