cruelty B2 Topic:Emotions & Feelings US /ˈkɹuː(ə)lti/ See IPA manual Freq #9811 Meanings 1 noun Behaviour that causes pain or suffering to others, without any sympathy. The charity works to prevent cruelty to animals. 2 noun A cruel act. The prisoners suffered many cruelties at the hands of their guards. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · behaviour that causes pain... barbarismmercilessnessruthlessnessharshness Word family Forms cruelties Derived forms anticrueltycruelty-free Common collocations remorseless cruelty Adjective + noun Etymology AI details From Middle English cruelte, from Old French crualté (French cruauté), from Latin crudelitas. By surface analysis, cruel + -ty. *krewh₂- Proto-Indo-European cruelte Middle English crualté Old French crudelitas Latin View etymology graph -> Topics Emotions & Feelings External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # cruelty **Type:** Word **Level:** B2 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈkɹuː(ə)lti/ **Frequency rank:** 9811 ## Meanings 1. Behaviour that causes pain or suffering to others, without any sympathy. 2. A cruel act. ## Examples - The charity works to prevent cruelty to animals. - The prisoners suffered many cruelties at the hands of their guards. ## Derived Forms - anticruelty - cruelty-free ## Roots and Affixes - Root: *krewh₂- - Root: cruelte - Root: crualté - Root: crudelitas - Affix: -ty - state ## Etymology From Middle English cruelte, from Old French crualté (French cruauté), from Latin crudelitas. By surface analysis, cruel + -ty. ## AI Etymology cruelty comes from Middle English cruelte, from Old French crualté (French cruauté), from Latin crudelitas. By surface analysis, cruel + -ty. The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂-, Middle English cruelte, Old French crualté, Latin crudelitas. Current senses include Behaviour that causes pain or suffering to others, without any sympathy and A cruel act. English relatives and later formations include anticruelty, cruelty-free. ## Topics - Emotions & Feelings markdown