as in brutality
disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others
centuries after he ravaged Europe, Attila the Hun remains notorious for his cruelty
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Recent Examples of cruelty
In the film, Credenza runs the bizarre amusement park of Twitlandia alongside her husband — delighting in dirty pranks, filth and cruelty along the way.
—
Jane Lacroix, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025
Each new act of cruelty had already been rehearsed through its infliction on the previous group.
—MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025
Thomas also faces two misdemeanor charges of cruelty to animals and recklessly endangering another person, records show.
—Lauren Liebhaber, Miami Herald, 17 Oct. 2025
In this battle for reputation protection, no one’s a winner — including the audience who might just want to shower after all this nastiness and cruelty ends.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cruelty
Jane Lacroix, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025
Each new act of cruelty had already been rehearsed through its infliction on the previous group.
—MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025
Thomas also faces two misdemeanor charges of cruelty to animals and recklessly endangering another person, records show.
—Lauren Liebhaber, Miami Herald, 17 Oct. 2025
In this battle for reputation protection, no one’s a winner — including the audience who might just want to shower after all this nastiness and cruelty ends.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cruelty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cruelty
Noun
-
The sight of Musk swinging a chainsaw onstage at a conservative conference captured the pell-mell approach, not to mention the brutality, of the billionaire’s plan to bring the federal government to heel.—
Andy Kroll,
New Yorker,
17 Oct. 2025
-
And as civil rights protesters proved decades ago, a righteous, peaceful protest that is met with brutality can unmute even a silent majority.—
Nancy Gibbs,
Time,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
He was joined by Ali Abbas and Ali Ayyoub, two former ministers of defense facing sanctions for human rights violations and atrocities carried out during the conflict.—
Danny Makki,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
-
Only instead of ignoring or burying this awful truth, Kai travels the world, speaking at synagogues and in Jewish community centers about his family’s dark past — and at high schools and colleges to ensure that the atrocities of Nazi Germany are never forgotten or sanitized.—
Johnny Dodd,
PEOPLE,
11 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cruelty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cruelty. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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