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cruel

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cru⋅el

  [kroo-uhl]
Use cruel in a Sentence
–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

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.

Antonyms:
1. kind. 2. sympathetic, compassionate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cru·el   (krōō'əl)   
adj.   cru·el·er or cru·el·ler, cru·el·est or cru·el·lest

  1. Disposed to inflict pain or suffering.

  2. 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 © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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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