Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Disposed to inflict pain or suffering.
- adjective Causing or characterized by severe pain, suffering, or distress.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Very; extremely.
- Disposed to inflict suffering, physical or mental; indifferent to or taking pleasure in the pain or distress of any sentient being; willing or pleased to torment, vex, or afflict; destitute of pity, compassion, or kindness; hard-hearted; pitiless.
- Proceeding from or exhibiting indifference to or pleasure in the suffering of others; causing pain, grief, or distress; performed or exerted in tormenting, vexing, or afflicting: as, a cruel act; a cruel disposition; the cruel treatment of animals.
- Synonyms Barbarous, savage, ferocious, brutal, merciless, unmerciful, pitiless, unfeeling, fell, ruthless, truculent, bloodthirsty, inexorable, unrelenting.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun See
crewel . - adjective 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.
- adjective Causing, or fitted to cause, pain, grief, or misery.
- adjective Attended with cruetly; painful; harsh.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Not
nice ;mean ;heartless . - adjective slang
Cool ;awesome ;neat . - verb To
spoil orruin (one's chance of success)
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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"Mamma! what a cruel, _cruel_ wretch!" cried Walter.
Elsie's Vacation and After Events Martha Finley 1868
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"Godo --" she began; and she cast herself on the lounge that Maxwell had vacated, and plunged her face in the pillow and sobbed, "Oh, cruel, cruel, _cruel_!
The Story of a Play A Novel William Dean Howells 1878
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Whoever assigned eight A.M. for Molecular Biology 201 gave new meaning to the term cruel and unusual punishment.
The God Hater Bill Myers 2010
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Obama employs the word cruel and its derivatives no fewer than fourteen times in Dreams.
Deconstructing Obama Jack Cashill 2011
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Obama employs the word cruel and its derivatives no fewer than fourteen times in Dreams.
Deconstructing Obama Jack Cashill 2011
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The term cruel includes the concept of intent - an intention to inflict pain and/or suffering.
Evolution Weekend to focus on environment - The Panda's Thumb 2010
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He said: The word cruel has been used and I think it's fair.
BBC News - Home 2011
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The video was recorded in an undercover investigation at Conklin Dairy Farms Inc., said Mercy For Animals, a not-for-profit group that publicizes what it calls cruel practices in the dairy, meat and egg industries and promotes a vegan diet.
Conklin Dairy Farms Video Shows Dairy Cows Being Violently Abused, Says Mercy For Animals (VIDEO) 2010
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The video was recorded in an undercover investigation at Conklin Dairy Farms Inc., said Mercy For Animals, a not-for-profit group that publicizes what it calls cruel practices in the dairy, meat and egg industries and promotes a vegan diet.
Conklin Dairy Farms Video Shows Dairy Cows Being Violently Abused, Says Mercy For Animals (VIDEO) 2010
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The video was recorded in an undercover investigation at Conklin Dairy Farms Inc., said Mercy For Animals, a not-for-profit group that publicizes what it calls cruel practices in the dairy, meat and egg industries and promotes a vegan diet.
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