Definition

1. Noun:
   • The quality or state of being cruel: The condition of having a disposition to inflict suffering or show no mercy.
   • A cruel action or treatment: A specific act that deliberately causes pain or suffering.
   • Heartlessness, indifference to suffering: Feelings or behavior that show a lack of pity or compassion.

Examples of Usage

• As a quality:
  • The cruelty of the dictator was known throughout the world.
  • There is no excuse for such cruelty towards animals.
• As a specific act:
  • Separating the puppy from its mother was an act of cruelty.
  • The historical records document many cruelties inflicted during the war.
• Describing feelings/behavior:
  • His cruelty shocked everyone who knew him.
  • She spoke with a chilling cruelty.

Advanced Usage

• "The cruelty of fate": Used to describe a harsh, seemingly unfair outcome dictated by chance or destiny.
  • Losing his job and his home in the same week was a demonstration of the cruelty of fate.
• "To add insult to cruelty": An intensified phrase meaning to make a bad or painful situation even worse through mockery or humiliation.
  • Firing her on her birthday added insult to cruelty.

Variants and Related Words

• Cruel (adj): Willing to cause pain or suffering.
  • a cruel remark
• Cruelly (adv): In a cruel manner.
  • He was treated cruelly.

Synonyms

• Brutality: Savage physical violence; cruel and inhuman treatment.
• Savagery: The quality of being fierce or cruel.
• Heartlessness: Lack of sympathy or feeling.
• Inhumanity: Extremely cruel and brutal behavior.

Related Phrases

• Cruelty-free: (Adjective) Denoting products or processes that have not been tested on animals.
  • She only buys cruelty-free cosmetics.
• Mental cruelty: (Noun phrase) A legal and psychological term for behavior that causes psychological trauma or distress.
  • The divorce was granted on the grounds of mental cruelty.

Idioms

• "Cruel to be kind": To do or say something that causes short-term pain or discomfort to someone in order to help them in the long run.
  • I had to tell him the harsh truth about his performance. It was a case of being cruel to be kind.

Noun

1. the quality of being cruel and causing tension or annoyance
2. feelings of extreme heartlessness
3. a cruel act; a deliberate infliction of pain and suffering