Cruel definition | Dictionary.com

cru⋅el

[kroo-uh

–adjective, -er, -est.

1.	willfully or knowingly causing pain or distress to others.

2.	enjoying the pain or distress of others: the cruel spectators of the gladiatorial contests.

3.	causing or marked by great pain or distress: a cruel remark; a cruel affliction.

4.	rigid; stern; strict; unrelentingly severe.

Origin:
1175–1225; ME < AF, OF < L crūdēlis, equiv. to crūd(us) (see crude ) + -ēlis adj. suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : Cruel

Spanish:

cruel,

German:

grausam,

Japanese:

残酷な

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cru·el (krōō'əl) Pronunciation Key
adj. cru·el·er or cru·el·ler, cru·el·est or cru·el·lest

Disposed to inflict pain or suffering.
Causing suffering; painful.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin crūdēlis; see kreuə- in Indo-European roots.]
cru'el·ly adv., cru'el·ness n.

Synonyms: These adjectives mean predisposed to inflict violence, pain, or hardship, or to find satisfaction in the suffering of others: a cruel tyrant; a fierce warrior; a ferocious attack dog; a barbarous crime; inhuman treatment of captured soldiers; a savage outburst of temper; a vicious kick.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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cruel

c.1225, from O.Fr. cruel, earlier crudel, from L. crudelem "unfeeling, cruel," related to crudus "rough, raw, bloody."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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cruel
adjective
(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" [syn: barbarous]

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Cruel

Cru"el\ (kr[udd]"[e^]l), n. See Crewel.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Cruel

Cru"el\ (kr[udd]"[e^]l), a. [F. cruel, fr. L. crudelis, fr. crudus. See Crude.]

1. 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.

Behold a people cometh from the north country; . . . they are cruel and have no mercy. --Jer. vi. 22,23.

2. Causing, or fitted to cause, pain, grief, or misery.

Cruel wars, wasting the earth. --Milton.

Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath for it was cruel. --Gen. xlix. 7.

3. Attended with cruetly; painful; harsh.

You have seen cruel proof of this man's strength. --Shak.