cruel

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

cru·el

(kro͞o′əl)

adj. cru·el·er, cru·el·est or cru·el·ler or cru·el·lest

1. Disposed to inflict pain or suffering: a cruel tyrant.

2. Causing or characterized by severe pain, suffering, or distress: cruel treatment; a cruel remark.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin crūdēlis; see kreuə- in Indo-European roots.]

cru′el·ly adv.

cru′el·ness n.

cruel

(ˈkruːəl)

adj

1. causing or inflicting pain without pity: a cruel teacher.

2. causing pain or suffering: a cruel accident.

[C13: from Old French, from Latin crūdēlis, from crūdus raw, bloody]

ˈcruelly adv

ˈcruelness n

cru•el

(ˈkru əl)

adj. -er, -est.

1. willfully causing pain or distress to others.

2. enjoying the pain or distress of others.

3. causing or marked by great pain or distress.

4. unrelentingly severe; merciless; brutal.

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

cru′el•ly, adv.

cru′el•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Adj.

cruel - (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering; "a barbarous crime"; "brutal beatings"; "cruel tortures"; "Stalin's roughshod treatment of the kulaks"; "a savage slap"; "vicious kicks"

barbarous, brutal, fell, savage, vicious, roughshod

inhumane - lacking and reflecting lack of pity or compassion; "humans are innately inhumane; this explains much of the misery and suffering in the world"; "biological weapons are considered too inhumane to be used"

cruel

adjective

1. brutal, ruthless, callous, sadistic, inhumane, hard, fell (archaic), severe, harsh, savage, grim, vicious, relentless, murderous, monstrous, unnatural, unkind, heartless, atrocious, inhuman, merciless, cold-blooded, malevolent, hellish, depraved, spiteful, brutish, bloodthirsty, remorseless, barbarous, pitiless, unfeeling, sanguinary, hard-hearted, stony-hearted the cruel practice of bullfighting the persecution of prisoners by cruel officers
brutal kind, caring, gentle, sympathetic, humane, compassionate, benevolent, merciful, warm-hearted

2. bitter, severe, painful, ruthless, traumatic, grievous, unrelenting, merciless, pitiless Fate dealt him a cruel blow.

Quotations
"I must be cruel, only to be kind" [William Shakespeare Hamlet]

cruel

adjective

1. Showing or suggesting a disposition to be violently destructive without scruple or restraint:

barbarous, bestial, fell, feral, ferocious, fierce, inhuman, savage, truculent, vicious, wolfish.

2. So intense as to cause extreme suffering:

ferocious, fierce, savage, vicious.

Translations

أليم ، قاسِقاسٍقاسي القَلب، عَديم الرّحْـمَـه

жесток

krutýsurovýukrutný

ondforfærdeliggrusom

julma

nirdayi

nečovječanokrutan

kegyetlen

kejam

miskunnarlaus; grimmuròjáningarfullur

crudele inumano

残酷な

잔혹한

crudelis

negailestingasskaudusskaudžiai

cietsirdīgsnežēlīgssāpīgssmags

wreed

grufull grusom nådeløs smertelig

okrutny

cruel

crud

жестокий

krutokruten

grym

dhalimu

โหดร้าย

zalimacı verenacımasızçekilmez

tàn nhẫn

令人痛苦的残忍的残酷的

cruel

[ˈkrʊəl] ADJ (crueller (compar) (cruellest (superl))) → cruel
they were very cruel to her → fueron muy crueles con ella
it's a cruel fact → es un hecho brutal
you have to be cruel to be kind → quien bien te quiere te hará llorar

cruel

[ˈkruːəl] adj

[person] → cruel(le); [treatment] → cruel(le); [joke, hoax] → cruel(le)
to be cruel to sb [person] → être cruel(le) envers qn

[life, world, reality, fact] → cruel(le)
a cruel irony → une ironie cruelle
a cruel blow → un coup très dur
a cruel twist of fate → un cruel caprice du sort
you have to be cruel to be kind → qui aime bien châtie bien

cruel

adj → grausam (to zu); remark, wit, critic, winter also → unbarmherzig; to be cruel to animals → ein Tierquäler sein; to be cruel to one’s dog → seinen Hund quälen; that is cruel to animals → das ist Tierquälerei; don’t be cruel! → sei nicht so gemein!; sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind → manchmal ist es letzten Endes besser, wenn man hart ist

cruel

[ˈkrʊəl] adj (-ler (comp) (-lest (superl))) cruel (to or towards) → crudele (con or nei confronti di)

cruel

(ˈkruːəl) adjective

1. pleased at causing pain; merciless. He was cruel to his dog.

2. causing distress. a cruel disappointment.

ˈcruelly adverb

ˈcruelty noun

cruel

→ قاسٍ krutý ond grausam σκληρός cruel julma cruel okrutan crudele 残酷な 잔혹한 wreed grusom okrutny cruel жестокий grym โหดร้าย zalim tàn nhẫn 残忍的

cruel

a. cruel, inhumano-a.

cruel

adj cruel

References in classic literature ?

And now it is the time; from Hell's abyss Come thirsting Tantalus, come Sisyphus Heaving the cruel stone, come Tityus With vulture, and with wheel Ixion come, And come the sisters of the ceaseless toil; And all into this breast transfer their pains, And (if such tribute to despair be due) Chant in their deepest tones a doleful dirge Over a corse unworthy of a shroud.

View in context

She felt nothing but that Arthur was cruel--cruel to write so, cruel not to marry her.

View in context

Just then I was absorbed in them only as a medium of escape, and so, as my gaze ran quickly, time and again, over their vast expanse in search of some cranny or crevice, I came suddenly to loathe them as the prisoner must loathe the cruel and impregnable walls of his dungeon.

View in context

Now I realized the cause of the rage that had been writ so large upon the features of Matai Shang and the cruel pleasure that I had seen upon the face of Phaidor.

View in context

This fault the Lacedaemonians did not fall into, for they made their children fierce by painful labour, as chiefly useful to inspire them with courage: though, as we have already often said, this is neither the only thing nor the principal thing necessary to attend to; and even with respect to this they may not thus attain their end; for we do not find either in other animals, or other nations, that courage necessarily attends the most cruel, but rather the milder, and those who have the dispositions of lions: for there are many people who are eager both to kill men and to devour human flesh, as the Achaeans and Heniochi in Pontus, and many others in Asia, some of whom are as bad, others worse than these, who indeed live by tyranny, but are men of no courage.

View in context

Few are willing to incur the odium attaching to the reputation of being a cruel master; and above all things, they would not be known as not giving a slave enough to eat.

View in context

This was too cruel, too unexpected a Blow to our Gentle Sensibility--we could not support it--we could only faint.

View in context

To you, to whom I have done this hard and cruel thing, the only reparation I can make is to say, 'I know it, I feel it

View in context

To the chambers of O-Mai the Cruel I traced them," squeaked I-Gos.

View in context

It was not that he was more cruel or more savage than they that they hated him, for though he was both cruel and savage as were the beasts, his fellows, yet too was he often tender, which they never were.

View in context

Our good Queen is ever striving to keep the dear flowers from the power of the cruel Frost-King; many ways she tried, but all have failed.

View in context

Before him lay the deep waters of the little lake, behind him certain death; a cruel death beneath tearing claws and rending fangs.