Word forms: comparative crueller, superlative cruellestregional note: in AM, use crueler, cruelest
1. adjective
Someone who is cruel deliberately causes pain or distress to people or animals.
Children can be so cruel.
Don't you think it's cruel to cage a creature up?
cruellyadverb [ADVERB with verb]
Douglas was often cruelly tormented by jealous siblings.
Synonyms: brutally, severely, savagely, viciously More Synonyms of cruel
2. adjective
A situation or event that is cruel is very harsh and causes people distress.
...struggling to survive in a cruel world with which they cannot cope.
By a cruel irony, his horse came down on a flat part of the course.
cruellyadverb [usually ADVERB with verb]
His life has been cruelly shattered by an event not of his own making.
Synonyms: bitterly, deeply, severely, mortally More Synonyms of cruel
More Synonyms of cruel
cruel in British English
(ˈkruːəl)
adjective
1.
causing or inflicting pain without pity
a cruel teacher
2.
causing pain or suffering
a cruel accident
Derived forms
cruelly (ˈcruelly)
adverb
cruelness (ˈcruelness)
noun
Word origin
C13: from Old French, from Latin crūdēlis, from crūdus raw, bloody
cruel in American English
(ˈkruəl)
adjective
1.
deliberately seeking to inflict pain and suffering; enjoying others' suffering; without mercy or pity
2.
causing, or of a kind to cause, pain, distress, etc.
SYNONYMY NOTE: cruel implies indifference to the suffering of others or a disposition to inflict it onothers [cruel fate]; brutal implies an animal-like or savage cruelty that is altogether unfeeling [a brutal prison guard]; inhuman stresses the complete absence of those qualities expected of a civilized human being,such as compassion, mercy, or benevolence; , pitiless implies a callous refusal to be moved or influenced by the suffering of those onehas wronged; , ruthless implies a cruel and relentless disregard for the rights or welfare of others, whilein pursuit of a goal
OPPOSITES: humane, kind
Derived forms
cruelly (ˈcruelly)
adverb
cruelness (ˈcruelness)
noun
Word origin
OFr < L crudelis < crudus: see crude
Examples of 'cruel' in a sentence
cruel
The cruel reality you face of a life without the man you love is further compounded by a world that keeps on turning.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But sport, like life, is cruel.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Life can be cruel.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
What a cruel blow for the traumatised relatives of the victims.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
When stressed we are often the most cruel to those who we feel closest to.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The way it exposes some people is too cruel.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
What kind of cruel irony embedded this peace directive in the very source of my discontent?
Christianity Today (2000)
This cruel blow meant working very hard indeed.
Alan Whicker Whicker's War
The fences can be miles in length and are often cruel barriers to the movement of wildlife.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Some cards include cruel jokes about people suffering despair.
The Sun (2011)
There is a cruel irony for cancer care in this country.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Losing right at the death was a cruel blow.
The Sun (2008)
She was horrified to read that people were being cruel about her.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
It is a cruel irony that once people realised it was pleasurable it went underground.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
He turned the cruellest blow in the world into a chance to do some real good.
The Sun (2014)
And she is a beacon of hope to all women caught in the grip of this cruel and often misunderstood disease.
The Sun (2010)
It was a cruel irony that a man whose life had been language should at the last be deprived of it.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The cold snap is a cruel blow for all those flowers that came into bloom out of season earlier this winter.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Political life is cruel to families.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Often that is the case, but many are innocent victims of cruel misfortune.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Those who said he should serve longer for his part in the killing were brushed aside and accused of being harsh and cruel.
The Sun (2010)
The left's idea of keeping people on benefits for life is incredibly cruel.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
That he was taken from his family so early in his son's life is particularly cruel.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
His exchanges with the King also often exhibit a cruel rationality.
The Times Literary Supplement (2013)
Quotations
I must be cruel, only to be kindWilliam ShakespeareHamlet
In other languages
cruel
British English: cruel /ˈkruːəl/ ADJECTIVE
Someone who is cruel deliberately causes pain or distress.