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.

Mark Joseph Stern: The Supreme Court held 25 years ago that it is cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to execute intellectually disabled people.

From Slate • May 23, 2026

The cruel irony is that this danger is arriving precisely as the world is rushing toward nuclear energy.

From Salon • May 21, 2026

Catherine described events as cruel and that Alicia had been failed twice.

From BBC • May 20, 2026

The cruel realities of baseball suggest that 34-year-olds with a résumé like his don’t magically transform into perennial All-Stars.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

Nergal likes to play his cruel little games.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

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