cruel
/krʊəl
/adjective (crueller, cruellest; US crueler, cruelest)
1Wilfully causing pain or suffering to others, or feeling no concern about it: people who are cruel to animals a cruel remark...
- 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.
Synonyms
brutal, savage, inhuman, barbaric, barbarous, brutish, bloodthirsty, murderous, homicidal, cut-throat, vicious, ferocious, fierce;
wicked, evil, fiendish, devilish, diabolical, heinous, abominable, monstrous, atrocious, vile, hideous, ghastly, nasty, spiteful, mean;
callous, sadistic, ruthless, merciless, unmerciful, pitiless, unsparing, unrelenting, remorseless, uncaring, unsympathetic, uncharitable, heartless, stony-hearted, hard-hearted, cold-hearted, cold-blooded, bloodless, unfeeling, unemotional, unkind, inhumane, severe, harsh, stern, inclement, flinty, draconian
British informal beastly
archaic dastardly, sanguinary
1.1Causing pain or suffering: the winters are long, hard, and cruel...
- 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?
Synonyms
harsh, severe, grim, grievous, hard, tough, bitter, harrowing, heartbreaking, heart-rending, distressing, upsetting, traumatic, painful, agonizing, excruciating
rare distressful
verb (cruels, cruelling, cruelled) [with object] Australian informal
Spoil or ruin (an opportunity or a chance of success): Ernie nearly cruelled the whole thing by laughing...
- He was a fresh, dynamic face on the political scene who travelled like a winner, before cruelling his chances with the finishing line in sight?
- Its strategy meant that it was prepared to betray that core principle for perceived political advantage, thus cruelling the chances of some of our most vulnerable children.
- This 30 year old is being tipped to go places - if we haven't completely cruelled her chances by giving her a name check in Crikey.
Late 19th century: perhaps influenced by the idiom queer someone's pitch (see queer)
Phrases
be cruel to be kind
cruel and unusual punishment
Derivatives
cruelness
Origin
Middle English: via Old French from Latin crudelis, related to crudus (see crude).