cruel

[kroo-uhl]

adjective, cru·el·er, cru·el·est.

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.

Origin of cruel

1175–1225; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin crūdēlis, equivalent to crūd(us) (see crude) + -ēlis adj. suffix

Related formscru·el·ly, adverbcru·el·ness, nounun·cru·el, adjectiveun·cru·el·ly, adverbun·cru·el·ness, noun

Synonyms for cruel

1. 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 for cruel

1. kind. 2. sympathetic, compassionate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for crueler

atrocious, heartless, harsh, ruthless, inhuman, callous, cold-blooded, bitter, merciless, tyrannical, barbarous, vicious, evil, hateful, unkind, spiteful, brutal, painful, sadistic, wicked

Examples from the Web for crueler

Contemporary Examples of crueler

Chronic starvation, overwork, disease, and freezing temperatures were as effective as the bullet, only slower and crueler.
Norman Manea Survived the Nazis and the Communists and Lived to Write About It
Costica Bradatan
April 8, 2014
As the women got bolder, the times—or at least the men trying to outdo the times—got crueler.
The Mad Men Finishing School
Emma Pearse
August 11, 2009

Historical Examples of crueler

Rome of Csar, Rome of Peter,which was crueler, which was worse?
Buchanan's Journal of Man, February 1887
Various
There is no crueler thing than a city crowd, all eyes and morbid curiosity.
The Escape of Mr. Trimm
Irvin S. Cobb
He did not blame her—the crueler thing would have been to have told the truth.
The Woman Gives
Owen Johnson
"Put his dust in his pocket," cried one, crueler than the rest.
It Is Never Too Late to Mend
Charles Reade
I think the men of my day were crueler as men and warmer as lovers.
The Heart's Country
Mary Heaton Vorse

British Dictionary definitions for crueler

cruel

adjective

causing or inflicting pain without pitya cruel teacher
causing pain or sufferinga cruel accident

Derived Formscruelly, adverbcruelness, noun

Word Origin for cruel

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for crueler

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.