cru‧el S3 / kruəl / 形容词

1 making someone suffer or feel unhappy :

His death was a cruel blow .

Sometimes life seems unbearably cruel.

2 deliberately hurting people or animals 反义词 kind :

The prisoner was a hard cruel man.

cruel jokes about mothers-in-law

It was a cruel tactless thing to say.

cruel to

She was often cruel to her sister.

3 be cruel to be kind to do something to someone that will make them upset or unhappy in order to help them in another way

— cruelly 副词 :

He was cruelly neglected by his parents.

THESAURUS

cruel deliberately hurting people or making them suffer : It was cruel to lock him in there all day. | Her father had been very cruel to her when she was a child. | a cruel, selfish woman

heartless not feeling any pity and not caring about other people or their problems : How could you be so heartless! | He was cold and heartless and had no concern for the welfare of his employees.

sadistic getting pleasure from making other people suffer : a sadistic killer | a sadistic thing to do

barbaric extremely cruel, in a way that shocks people : a barbaric punishment | a barbaric sport

vicious very violent and cruel, especially by suddenly attacking someone and causing injury to them : a vicious attack on an innocent man | Some dogs can be vicious.

brutal very cruel and violent, in a way that shows no human feelings : a brutal dictator | the brutal methods used by the secret police

inhumane inhumane conditions, treatment etc are not considered acceptable because they cause too much suffering : the inhumane treatment of prisoners

cold-blooded a cold-blooded murder, attack etc is done without showing any feeling or pity for the person who is attacked. A cold-blooded killer kills people without showing any pity : a woman ’s cold-blooded murder of her devoted husband | a cold-blooded psychopath