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cruel

/ˈkɹuːəl/adjective2 syllables

Cruel means: (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering.

Synonyms for cruel22

adjective, as in (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering

barbarous, brutal, fell, roughshod, savage, vicious, inhumane

also used for cruel

inhuman, sadistic, spiteful, callous, strict, cold, cold-eyed, dour, flint-hearted, bowelless, compassionless, flagitious, demonic, despiteful, diabolic

Includes material from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What does cruel mean?1

adjective

1

(of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering“a barbarous crime”

Definitions from the Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

What rhymes with cruel?5

two syllables

fueldualjewelduel

three syllables

renewal
Show 40 near rhymes
humanstudentsunionincludedstudentmovementunitstupidusesgooglesolutionunitsusefuldistributionhumansresolutioninstitutionsconstitutionrevolutionapprovalsolutionsimprovementhoustonevolutioninstitutionconclusionconcludedmovementsremovalcontributioncontributionsprovenmassachusettsruinexecutioncrucialimprovementsruinedneutralunions

Cruel in a sentence

  • Witnessing cruelty to animals, children may become cruel.Objectivesea
  • In their cruel fury, the jingoists several times bared their bloodthirsty fangs to him.Objectivesea
  • A cruel mental illness befell me, and convulsed my brain quite horribly.tinowls
  • Murdering elephants, tigers and other endangered species is not just cruel; it's also illegal.eastasiastudent
  • Once upon a time, there lived a cruel king.CM
  • When it comes to animals, this can't be considered as being something cruel.liwan1208
  • I never thought he was capable of doing something so cruel.Swift
  • I think it is cruel to trap animals for fur coats.unknown

Sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR, credited to their authors.

Forms of cruel

as a adjective

comparative
crueler
superlative
cruelest