cruelty

American  

[kroo-uhl-tee] / ˈkru əl ti /

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.

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cruelty British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• anticruelty adjective
• self-cruelty noun

Etymology

Origin of cruelty

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

Example Sentences

My Magic 8 Ball sees little to look forward to except a lot of laughs — because we’ll need to crack up at the cruelty to keep from crying, you know?

From Los Angeles Times

Too much time spent on Marty’s mother or his fierce opponent would distract from the film’s momentum, reducing it to simply a sports movie, and not a conclusive treatise on the cruelty of desire.

From Salon

It’s strange and instructive how readily cruelty presents itself as patriotism when it feels authorized.

From Salon

A petition created on Thursday, demanding prosecution of the perpetrators and measures to prevent similar acts of cruelty, has garnered more than 400 signatures.

From BBC

“The real evils in war,” St. Augustine once wrote, are “love of violence, revengeful cruelty, fierce and implacable enmity, wild resistance, and the lust of power.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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