cruel

adjective
UK: /ˈkruːəl/
US: /ˈkruːəl/

  1. Extremely unkind and causing pain or suffering.

    1. He is a cruel man and hurts people. [ ] [ ]
    2. The cruel king punished anyone who disagreed with him without mercy. [ ] [ ]

  2. Severely painful, harsh, or unpleasant.

    1. Life can be cruel sometimes, it's true. [ ] [ ]
    2. It was a cruel winter; many animals did not survive the freezing temperatures. [ ] [ ]

Synonyms

ruthless callous brutal heartless inhuman vicious sadistic merciless
cruel verb

  1. To cause pain or suffering deliberately.

    1. Don't cruel animals; be kind to them. [ ] [ ]
    2. They cruelled him with insults because he was different from them. [ ] [ ]
cruel adverb

  1. In a way that causes pain or suffering.

    1. He acted cruel when he fired her. [ ] [ ]
    2. She was treated cruel by her boss, so she quit her job immediately. [ ] [ ]

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "cruel" in English means: Extremely unkind and causing pain or suffering., Severely painful, harsh, or unpleasant..

The phonetic transcription of "cruel" is /ˈkruːəl/ in British English and /ˈkruːəl/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "cruel": ruthless, callous, brutal, heartless, inhuman, vicious, sadistic, merciless.

Example usage of "cruel": "He is a cruel man and hurts people.". More examples on the page.