Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
cruel - 5 dictionary results
cru⋅el
[kroo-uh
l] 
–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. |
Related forms:
cru⋅el⋅ly, adverb
cru⋅el⋅ness, noun
Synonyms:
1. bloodthirsty, ferocious, merciless, relentless. Cruel, pitiless, ruthless, brutal, savage imply readiness to cause pain to others. Cruel implies willingness to cause pain, and indifference to suffering: a cruel stepfather. Pitiless adds the idea of refusal to show compassion: pitiless to captives. Ruthless implies cruelty and unscrupulousness, letting nothing stand in one's way: ruthless greed. Brutal implies cruelty that takes the form of physical violence: a brutal master. Savage suggests fierceness and brutality: savage battles.
1. bloodthirsty, ferocious, merciless, relentless. Cruel, pitiless, ruthless, brutal, savage imply readiness to cause pain to others. Cruel implies willingness to cause pain, and indifference to suffering: a cruel stepfather. Pitiless adds the idea of refusal to show compassion: pitiless to captives. Ruthless implies cruelty and unscrupulousness, letting nothing stand in one's way: ruthless greed. Brutal implies cruelty that takes the form of physical violence: a brutal master. Savage suggests fierceness and brutality: savage battles.
Antonyms:
1. kind. 2. sympathetic, compassionate.
1. kind. 2. sympathetic, compassionate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To cruel
| cru·el (krōō'əl) adj. cru·el·er or cru·el·ler, cru·el·est or cru·el·lest
[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 © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Cruel
Cru"el\ (kr[udd]"[e^]l), n. See Crewel.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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
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
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
>
