cruel

/'kruili/
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Thân thiện
cruel

A cruel king orders his guards to throw a prisoner into the dungeon.

Definition

Adjective 1. Causing or intending to cause pain and suffering: Describes a person, action, or situation that shows a willingness to inflict physical or emotional pain without pity or remorse. 2. Harsh, severe, or causing distress: Can describe something, like a disease or event, that is extremely unpleasant, severe, or causes great hardship.

Examples of Usage
  • Describing a person or action:
    • The cruel dictator was responsible for the suffering of millions.
    • It was cruel of him to abandon the injured animal.
  • Describing a situation or event:
    • She suffered a cruel fate.
    • The disease is a cruel and debilitating condition.
Advanced Usage
  • "To be cruel to be kind": To act in a way that seems harsh or unkind in the short term, but is intended to be beneficial in the long run.
    • I had to tell her the hard truth about her work; sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.
  • Literary/Formal Use: Can be used to describe nature, fate, or abstract concepts as merciless.
    • The cruel winter winds battered the coast.
Variants and Related Words
  • Cruelly (adverb): In a cruel manner.
    • He was treated cruelly by his captors.
  • Cruelty (noun): Cruel behavior or a cruel act.
    • The law seeks to prevent cruelty to animals.
Synonyms
  • Brutal: Savagely violent.
  • Vicious: Deliberately cruel or violent.
  • Savage: Fierce, violent, and uncontrolled.
  • Heartless: Lacking sympathy or compassion.
  • Merciless: Showing no mercy.
  • Inhumane: Without compassion for misery or suffering.
Antonyms
  • Kind
  • Compassionate
  • Merciful
  • Humane
  • Gentle
Idioms and Phrases
  • Cruel and unusual punishment: A punishment that is excessively harsh, inhumane, or disproportionate to the crime (often a legal term).
    • Many argue that the sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
  • The cruelest month: A reference from T.S. Eliot's poem "The Waste Land" ("April is the cruellest month..."), sometimes used to describe a time of particular hardship or irony.
    • For farmers, the drought made August the cruelest month.
cruel

A cruel king orders his guards to throw a prisoner into the dungeon.

Adjective
  1. (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
    • a barbarous crime
    • brutal beatings
    • cruel tortures
    • Stalin's roughshod treatment of the kulaks
    • a savage slap
    • vicious kicks

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