cruel

B1 Topic:Describing People

US /ˈkɹuːəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #2764

Meanings

1

adj
Causing pain or suffering on purpose, without caring; unkind.

It is cruel to leave a dog locked up all day.
2

adj
Harsh, severe, or causing great difficulty.

They struggled through a long and cruel winter.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · causing pain or suffering... inhuman heartless merciless

2 adj · harsh, severe, or causing... brutal harsh grim

More barbarous bowelless compassionless demonic despiteful diabolic diabolical fellincessiveinclement

Opposites

kindly merciful

Word family

Forms cruelercruelestcruellercruellest

Derived forms cruel-heartedcruelizecruelly cruelnesscruelsomeover-cruelovercrueluncruel

Related forms crude crueltyill-disposedill-intentioned ill-natured stern

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

cruel tyrant
a ruler who deliberately causes suffering through harsh and unjust power

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

Luck is a cruel mistress

Etymology

From Middle English cruel, borrowed from Old French cruel, from Latin crūdēlis (“hard, severe, cruel”), akin to crūdus (“raw, crude”); see crude.

*krewh₂- Proto-Indo-European cruel Middle English crūdēlis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing People

External links

# cruel

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈkɹuːəl/
**Frequency rank:** 2764

## Meanings
1. Causing pain or suffering on purpose, without caring; unkind.
2. Harsh, severe, or causing great difficulty.

## Examples
- It is cruel to leave a dog locked up all day.
- They struggled through a long and cruel winter.

## Synonyms
- barbarous
- bowelless
- brutal
- compassionless
- demonic
- despiteful
- diabolic
- diabolical
- fell
- incessive
- inclement
- inhuman

## Antonyms
- kindly
- merciful

## Derived Forms
- cruel-hearted
- cruelize
- cruelly
- cruelness
- cruelsome
- over-cruel
- overcruel
- uncruel

## Related Forms
- crude
- cruelty
- ill-disposed
- ill-intentioned
- ill-natured
- stern

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *krewh₂-
- Root: cruel
- Root: crūdēlis

## Etymology
From Middle English cruel, borrowed from Old French cruel, from Latin crūdēlis (“hard, severe, cruel”), akin to crūdus (“raw, crude”); see crude.

## AI Etymology
cruel comes from Middle English cruel, borrowed from Old French cruel, from Latin crūdēlis (“hard, severe, cruel”), akin to crūdus (“raw, crude”); see crude. The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂-, Middle English cruel, Old French cruel, Latin crūdēlis. Current senses include Causing pain or suffering on purpose, without caring; unkind and Harsh, severe, or causing great difficulty. English relatives and later formations include cruel-hearted, cruelize, cruelly, crude, cruelty.

## Topics
- Describing People

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