cruelness

noun

Definition of cruelnessnext
as in cruelty
disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others far from being healers, the doctors in the Nazi death camps were notable for their senseless cruelness

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cruelness But again, Kristen, this is – this is cruelness. — NBC news, 30 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cruelness
  1. cruelty
  2. brutality
Noun
  • Law enforcement sources involved in the case told WJZ that the horse was being cared for by someone who is facing animal cruelty and abandonment charges in an unrelated case in West Virginia.
    — Tara Lynch, CBS News, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The real problem is the culture, and when culture rewards cruelty, the damage spreads.
    — Jodi Bondi Norgaard, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of cruelty
Noun
  • The army Mladic created to fight in Bosnia was a model of ruthlessness, daring and brutality in the Serb warrior tradition, once prized in the life-or-death partisan struggle against the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia in World War Two.
    — Ivana Sekularac, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Freya is the granddaughter of Athos — a dog who survived the Russian brutality in Bucha and was found on the street where Ukrainian forces destroyed a large Russian convoy, Danylchenko told the Associated Press in an interview.
    — Laurie Kellman, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of brutality

Browse Nearby Words

cruelly
cruelness
cruelty
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Cite this Entry

“Cruelness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cruelness. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

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