as in ruthlessly
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Recent Examples of cruelly
Maybe this time their rewards can be one of the top three picks in the draft, after the 2025 lottery cruelly landed in favor of much stronger West teams (Dallas, San Antonio) with the top two picks.
—
John Hollinger, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
These dreadful stomach and bowel cancers are increasingly afflicting young men who are ever more often being taken from us so cruelly, so early.
—Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Oct. 2025
Baseball is a cruelly and wonderfully unpredictable game.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Sep. 2025
Ultimately, the court found that prosecutors had not met the burden of proof to show the animals were being neglected or cruelly mistreated.
—Hannah Dreyfus, AZCentral.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Not long ago, such an idea would have seemed dystopian; now, that’s just the everyday gig economy whittled down to its most cruelly efficient form.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 29 Aug. 2025
John Hollinger, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
These dreadful stomach and bowel cancers are increasingly afflicting young men who are ever more often being taken from us so cruelly, so early.
—Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Oct. 2025
Baseball is a cruelly and wonderfully unpredictable game.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Sep. 2025
Ultimately, the court found that prosecutors had not met the burden of proof to show the animals were being neglected or cruelly mistreated.
—Hannah Dreyfus, AZCentral.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Not long ago, such an idea would have seemed dystopian; now, that’s just the everyday gig economy whittled down to its most cruelly efficient form.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cruelly
Adverb
-
Make decision-making ruthlessly efficient.—
Erik Huberman,
Rolling Stone,
10 Oct. 2025
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Few filmmakers have mined their own life as ruthlessly, or as artfully, as Noah Baumbach.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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Be Ruthless In Your Shoe Edit Shoes are notoriously bulky, but Jones recommends editing mercilessly.—
Alesandra Dubin,
Southern Living,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Comedians mercilessly mocked their audiences, and audiences liked to punch back.—
Adrienne LaFrance,
The Atlantic,
15 Sep. 2025
Adverb
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In the process, Joel heartlessly killed some innocent people, including medical professionals.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
26 Aug. 2025
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There is a troubling suggestion of abuse, implying that Jack might have been ill-treated by his mom (and saved by Helen), rather than heartlessly abandoned.—
Tomris Laffly,
Variety,
14 Aug. 2025
Adverb
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The director plays up the humor a lot more than Westlake’s callously cynical prose, for better or worse.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Sep. 2025
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But after the Sriracha-maker callously withheld payments from Underwood, the relationship deteriorated and litigation followed.—
Kate Vitasek,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Adverb
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Fede knows the truth, but Roberto doesn’t, and Fede has held that over Antonio ever since, with Antonio bitterly blaming himself for his wife’s death.—
Dave Nemetz,
TVLine,
12 Oct. 2025
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Both the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois bitterly oppose the move and have launched legal action in a bid to block it.—
James Bickerton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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Aimee Lou Wood, the British breakout star of The White Lotus season three, said Saturday Night Live has apologized after unkindly parodying her during Saturday night’s show.—
Nicole Fell,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Apr. 2025
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She was always being driven mad by Kubrick, very unkindly.—
Michael Schulman,
The New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Cruelly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cruelly. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
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