cruelness

C2+ Topic:Describing People

US /ˈkruəlnəs/ UK /ˈkruːəlnəs/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the quality of being cruel; cruelty

The cruelness of the punishment shocked even his enemies.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of being cruel;... cruelty brutality savagery heartlessness barbarity callousness

Opposites

kindness compassion mercy gentleness

Word family

Related forms cruel cruelty

Etymology

From 'cruel' + the suffix '-ness'; 'cruel' comes via Old French from Latin 'crūdēlis' ('hard, severe, unfeeling'), related to 'crūdus' ('raw').

crūdēlis Latin crūdus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing People Word Formation & Derivatives

# cruelness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈkruəlnəs
**IPA (UK):** ˈkruːəlnəs

## Meanings
1. the quality of being cruel; cruelty

## Examples
- The cruelness of the punishment shocked even his enemies.

## Synonyms
- cruelty
- brutality
- savagery
- heartlessness
- barbarity
- callousness

## Antonyms
- kindness
- compassion
- mercy
- gentleness

## Related Forms
- cruel
- cruelty

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: crūdēlis
- Root: crūdus

## Etymology
From 'cruel' + the suffix '-ness'; 'cruel' comes via Old French from Latin 'crūdēlis' ('hard, severe, unfeeling'), related to 'crūdus' ('raw').

## AI Etymology
Cruelness is from 'cruel' + the suffix '-ness'; 'cruel' comes via Old French from Latin 'crūdēlis' ('hard, severe, unfeeling'), related to 'crūdus' ('raw'). The ancestry passes through Latin crūdēlis and Latin crūdus. The suffix -ness marks an abstract noun of quality or state, so the English form is shaped by recognizable word formation as well as by its inherited or borrowed base. In present use as a noun, it means "the quality of being cruel; cruelty", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include cruel and cruelty.

## Topics
- Describing People
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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cruelness

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