Definitions for cruel
ˈkru əlcru·el

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

1. barbarous, brutal, cruel, fell, roughshod, savage, viciousadjective

   (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. cruelverb

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

2. crueladjective

   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. crueladjective

   Cool; awesome; neat.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. CRUELadjective

   Etymology: cruel, French; crudelis, Latin.

   1. Pleased with hurting others; inhuman; hard-hearted; without pity; without compassion; savage; barbarous; unrelenting.

   If wolves had at thy gate howl’d that stern time,
   Thou should’st have said, Go, porter, turn the key;
   All cruel’s else subscrib’d. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

   If thou art that cruel god, whose eyes
   Delight in blood, and human sacrifice. John Dryden, Ind. Emp.

   2. [Of things.] Bloody; mischievous; destructive; causing pain.

   Consider mine enemies; for they are many, and they hate me with cruel hatred. Ps. xxv. 19.

   We beheld one of the cruelest fights between two knights, that ever hath adorned the most martial story. Philip Sidney, b. ii.

Wikipedia(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Cruel

   Cruelty is the pleasure in inflicting suffering or inaction towards another's suffering when a clear remedy is readily available. Sadism can also be related to this form of action or concept. Cruel ways of inflicting suffering may involve violence, but affirmative violence is not necessary for an act to be cruel. For example, if a person is drowning and begging for help and another person is able to help with no cost or risk, but is merely watching with disinterest or perhaps mischievous amusement, that person is being cruel—rather than violent. George Eliot stated that "cruelty, like every other vice, requires no motive outside itself; it only requires opportunity." Bertrand Russell stated that "the infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell." Gilbert K. Chesterton stated that "cruelty is, perhaps, the worst kind of sin. Intellectual cruelty is certainly the worst kind of cruelty."The word has metaphorical uses, for example, "The cliffs remained cruel." (i.e., unclimbable when they desperately needed to be climbed) in The Lord of the Rings.

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

1. Cruelnoun

   see Crewel

2. Crueladjective

   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

3. Crueladjective

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

4. Crueladjective

   attended with cruetly; painful; harsh

5. 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. ulcer

2. lucre

How to pronounce cruel?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

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. Carol Lyn Parrish:

   Catching and injuring and possibly killing a hammerhead shark and then prolonging the animal’s suffering and then gloating to take photos is cruel to animals, plain and simple, there is no excuse for that.

2. De Kretser:

   Our harsh and cruel treatment of asylum seekers and refugees is damaging our international reputation and damaging our ability to advance our national interest, whether it's through being elected to the Human Rights Council ... or in other negotiations.

3. Maithripala Sirisena:

   My government is promoting peace and friendship among our people after overcoming a cruel terrorist conflict.

4. Bernardo Castro:

   These kids should be having fun living out their childhood, enjoying trips to the amusement park, but the political bickering has made their life a cruel roller coaster. Roughly 4.5 million children under the age of 18 live in mixed-status homes, with one family member being undocumented.

5. Ryan Pack:

   The world we live in is just a small but cruel and effective taste of God's will and authority.

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