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Definitions

cruel

[kroo-uhl] / ˈkru əl /
ADJECTIVE
vicious, pitiless; causing pain
Synonyms
STRONGEST
atrocious barbarous bitter brutal callous cold-blooded evil harsh hateful heartless inhuman inhumane merciless painful relentless ruthless sadistic spiteful tyrannical unkind vicious wicked
WEAK
bestial bloodthirsty brutish degenerate demoniac depraved excruciating ferocious fierce flinty hard hard-hearted hellish implacable inexorable malevolent monstrous pernicious poignant rancorous revengeful sinful unfeeling unnatural unrelenting vengeful virulent
Antonyms
STRONGEST
compassionate considerate decent easy feeling friendly gentle giving good helpful humane kind merciful mild moral nice pleasant pleasing polite sympathetic
WEAK
charitable thoughtful uncruel

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.

“He is not ugly. This society is, when it’s greedy and cruel and doesn’t take care of people. Not him.”

From Salon • Apr. 6, 2026

"The cruel irony is that AI-generated code requires more careful review than human-written code," software engineer Siddhant Khare wrote in a blog post.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

Dario was horrified as he watched his colleagues be fired one by one, which he considered needlessly cruel.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

The women who make it to China live in a "cruel paradox", says Lina Yoon from Human Rights Watch.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

Andrew Jackson’s wife, Rachel, was not spared from cruel campaign gossip.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.