cruel
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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The cruel joke is that there are only two types of bike racers: Those who have broken their collarbone, and those who are about to.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
Wildlife conservationist Prerna Singh Bindra, who led the pro bono public interest case, told AFP her petition had challenged state governments "supporting horrifically cruel practices".
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Hey, the American public can be crude and cruel.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
His death, at age 43, brought cruel jokes about his size, and suddenly I did not want to talk about him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Clare thought of those who’d abandoned him: the speeding car, the cruel badger.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Trump’s treatment of Cornyn was crueler than that of Cassidy.
From Slate ● May 30, 2026
To Valerie’s credit, she transformed her “Room and Bored” struggles into an Emmy-winning performance on its crueler version, “Seeing Red.”
From Salon ● Mar. 26, 2026
“But I don’t recall crueler words ever said about me.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026
I recognize, of course, that life isn’t fair and that many families are grappling with circumstances far crueler than ours.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 22, 2025
The knight was a powerful man, yet Dany understood in that moment that the maegi was stronger, and crueler, and infinitely more dangerous.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
But at the same time, even under the cruelest dictatorships, it has still managed to produce fine literature.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
Eliot famously wrote that “April is the cruelest month.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026
Some Wall Street analysts are insisting that April — contrary to its label as the cruelest month — is actually one of the better months for the U.S. stock market.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 1, 2026
But here’s the cruelest irony: There has been plenty of innovation in media.
From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2026
We made our government write new laws to alter some of the cruelest injustices that affected us.
From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry
Vocabulary lists containing cruel
Schooled
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Messenger
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"Seeking Freedom"
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