Definition of cruel in English:

adjectivecrueler, cruelest, British crueller, cruellest

• 1Willfully causing pain or suffering to others, or feeling no concern about it.

  ‘people who are cruel to animals’

  ‘a cruel remark’

  More example sentences

  • ‘After the death, staff at the home became intolerably cruel to her and made her life a living hell.’
  • ‘I basically told her to get out of my life because she was being so unfair and cruel to me.’
  • ‘She still felt guilty about how she had been deliberately cruel to him.’
  • ‘Although I am never actually intentionally cruel to my parents, there is one little jape I like to have at this time of year.’
  • ‘I find it sickening and sad that someone could be so wantonly cruel to their pets.’
  • ‘But I could understand his lifelong hatred of a nun who had been cruel to him at school.’
  • ‘While a relationship is breaking down, people can be unspeakably cruel to each other.’
  • ‘He had been unreasonably cruel to that poor nurse, to all of the nurses in fact!’
  • ‘But I can't for the life of me, understand why anyone would wish to be cruel to another living creature.’
  • ‘It shocked me that I had been so cruel to her in the beginning and that I was never helpful or nice to her.’
  • ‘Why would he be so cruel to say he loved me then laugh about me behind my back?’
  • ‘We now know that some families were cruel to children and that many children were abused without anyone stepping in to stop it.’
  • ‘The cruel act has shocked animal carers in Swindon, who say they are sickened by the deed.’
  • ‘History will judge the actions of your government as cruel and barbaric.’
  • ‘A I think it's natural in the human spirit to be loving and kind but clearly humans can easily be incited to be evil and cruel.’
  • ‘Some evil, cruel person made a video of it and showed us the next day.’
  • ‘I may sound cruel and uncaring by saying this but where should charity start and end?’
  • ‘It is telling that his hero is an honest cop, sometimes brutish but never cruel.’
  • ‘But there was more to the crime than the wickedness of two cruel women.’
  • ‘That isn't to say she's a cruel or uncaring mother, just that she's busy.’

  Synonyms

  brutal, savage, inhuman, barbaric, barbarous, brutish, bloodthirsty, murderous, homicidal, cut-throat, vicious, ferocious, fierce

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  1. 1.1Causing pain or suffering.
     ‘the winters are long, hard, and cruel’
     More example sentences

     • ‘What about the people who decided which inmates were to be subjected to these cruel and inhumane conditions?’
     • ‘The western community rose up to protest the cruel and inhumane punishment.’
     • ‘What other hideous and cruel things could happen in such a world that she lived in?’
     • ‘We can reasonably conclude that this is an inhuman and cruel job that should go the way of child chimney-sweeps.’
     • ‘Once when he was young and felt that life was too cruel to suffer, he had thought of the freedom of death.’
     • ‘In a peculiar way, sport can be very cruel to those who play it at the highest level.’
     • ‘He prayed that the war might never be as cruel to them as it had been to him.’
     • ‘She finally decided she wanted to join her father and leave the world that had been so cruel to her.’
     • ‘"Fate is sometimes cruel, " she replied, her face in his neck, her voice muffled.’
     • ‘Fate is cruel to the people in the film.’
     • ‘She'd always hated the conventional exercise methods, deeming them unnecessarily cruel.’
     • ‘Still, the reality she faces is neither too harsh, nor too cruel.’
     • ‘"Football can be cruel at times and the players were disappointed but we'll get over it.’
     • ‘The fool had hoped that the world was not as cruel a place as he had suspected.’
     • ‘I know how cruel this game can be and I never doubted that everyone would give of his best and that is as much as we can expect.’
     • ‘The problem is that people in the West have no clue how cruel the world outside is.’
     • ‘There is no point whatsoever in our attempting to make the world a less cruel or more livable place.’
     • ‘Opponents have been campaigning for a ban for decades and say the practice is appallingly cruel and unnecessary.’
     • ‘Not only are punishments cruel, the legal procedures are positively medieval.’
     • ‘The system is very, very cruel and the trick is to not get involved in it.’
     Synonyms

     harsh, severe, grim, grievous, hard, tough, bitter, harrowing, heartbreaking, heart-rending, distressing, upsetting, traumatic, painful, agonizing, excruciating

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