Definitions for cruel
ˈkru əlcru·el

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. barbarous, brutal, cruel, fell, roughshod, savage, vicious(adj)

   (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"

Wiktionary(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. cruel(Verb)

   To spoil or ruin (one's chance of success)

2. cruel(Adjective)

   Not nice; mean; heartless.

   The supervisor was very cruel to Josh, as he would always give Josh the hardest, most degrading work he could find.

3. cruel(Adjective)

   Cool; awesome; neat.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Cruel(noun)

   see Crewel

   Etymology: [F. cruel, fr. L. crudelis, fr. crudus. See Crude.]

2. Cruel(adj)

   disposed to give pain to others; willing or pleased to hurt, torment, or afflict; destitute of sympathetic kindness and pity; savage; inhuman; hard-hearted; merciless

   Etymology: [F. cruel, fr. L. crudelis, fr. crudus. See Crude.]

3. Cruel(adj)

   causing, or fitted to cause, pain, grief, or misery

   Etymology: [F. cruel, fr. L. crudelis, fr. crudus. See Crude.]

4. Cruel(adj)

   attended with cruetly; painful; harsh

   Etymology: [F. cruel, fr. L. crudelis, fr. crudus. See Crude.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Cruel

   krōō′el, adj. disposed to inflict pain, or pleased at suffering: void of pity, merciless, savage: severe.—adj. Cru′el-heart′ed, delighting in cruelty: hard-hearted: unrelenting.—adv. Cru′elly.—ns. Cru′elness (obs.); Cru′elty. [Fr. cruel—L. crudelis.]

British National Corpus

1. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'cruel' in Adjectives Frequency: #780

Anagrams for cruel »

1. lucre

2. ulcer

How to pronounce cruel?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say cruel in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of cruel in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of cruel in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of cruel in a Sentence

1. Nils Melzer:

   Mr. Assange has been deliberately exposed, for a period of several years, to progressively severe forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the cumulative effects of which can only be described as psychological torture.

2. Theodore Wells:

   The case is almost a joke, but it's a cruel joke, your honor, because the reputations of a lot of people have been hurt and disparaged by the bringing of the complaint.

3. Governor Andrew Cuomo:

   This is animal abuse, pure and simple, i'm proud to sign this common-sense legislation and end these cruel and unacceptable practices in New York once and for all.

4. Diran Lin:

   He is a beast ... worse than a beast, i just want to ask him why he did this. What he did is very cruel.

5. August Strindberg:

   People are constantly clamoring for the joy of life. As for me, I find the joy of life in the hard and cruel battle of life -- to learn something is a joy to me.

Images & Illustrations of cruel

Popularity rank by frequency of use