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
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Recent Examples of cruelness
But again, Kristen, this is – this is cruelness.
—
NBC news, 30 Nov. 2025
NBC news, 30 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cruelness
Noun
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Initially, the couple was arrested on charges of first-degree manslaughter, first-degree unlawful restraint, intentional cruelty to persons, risk of injury to a minor and conspiracy to commit risk of injury to a minor.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
28 Apr. 2026
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There was a particular cruelty in having lived with her hearing for 28 years before losing it.—
Théoden Janes,
Charlotte Observer,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Based on Otessa Moshfegh’s novel about women driven to extremes by life in a small town, Thomasin McKenzie stars as the titular gruff clerk at a boys prison, physically and mentally stuck in a reality inextricable from male brutality.—
Chris Feil,
Vulture,
1 May 2026
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Here, Creasy’s brutality is framed as a positive.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
30 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cruelness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cruelness. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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