cru ‧ el S3 /ˈkruːəl/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ cruelty ; adverb : ↑ cruelly ; adjective : ↑ cruel ]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: Latin crudelis , from crudus ; ⇨ ↑ crude 1 ]
1 . making someone suffer or feel unhappy:
His death was a cruel blow.
Sometimes life seems unbearably cruel.
2 . deliberately hurting people or animals OPP kind :
The prisoner was a hard cruel man.
cruel jokes about mothers-in-law
It was a cruel tactless thing to say.
cruel to
She was often cruel to her sister.
3 . be cruel to be kind to do something to someone that will make them upset or unhappy in order to help them in another way
—cruelly adverb :
He was cruelly neglected by his parents.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ cruel deliberately hurting people or making them suffer:
It was cruel to lock him in there all day.
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Her father had been very cruel to her when she was a child.
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a cruel, selfish woman
▪ heartless not feeling any pity and not caring about other people or their problems:
How could you be so heartless!
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He was cold and heartless and had no concern for the welfare of his employees.
▪ sadistic getting pleasure from making other people suffer:
a sadistic killer
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a sadistic thing to do
▪ barbaric extremely cruel, in a way that shocks people:
a barbaric punishment
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a barbaric sport
▪ vicious very violent and cruel, especially by suddenly attacking someone and causing injury to them:
a vicious attack on an innocent man
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Some dogs can be vicious.
▪ brutal very cruel and violent, in a way that shows no human feelings:
a brutal dictator
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the brutal methods used by the secret police
▪ inhumane inhumane conditions, treatment etc are not considered acceptable because they cause too much suffering:
the inhumane treatment of prisoners
▪ cold-blooded a cold-blooded murder, attack etc is done without showing any feeling or pity for the person who is attacked. A cold-blooded killer kills people without showing any pity:
a woman 's cold-blooded murder of her devoted husband
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a cold-blooded psychopath