Synonyms of cruelty

cruelty

noun

ˈkrü(-ə)l-tē 

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• brutality
• atrocity
• barbarity
• inhumanity
• savagery
• sadism
• savageness
• heartlessness
• cruelness
• viciousness
• murderousness
• fiendishness
• barbarousness
• wantonness
• inhumanness
• truculence
• ruthlessness
• mercilessness
• atrociousness
• meanness
• ferocity
• pitilessness
• oppressiveness
• fierceness
• grimness
• ferociousness
• bloodthirstiness
• malevolence
• spitefulness
• maliciousness
• hard-heartedness
• bloodlust
• hatefulness
• malignity
• unfeelingness
• harshness
• sanguinity
• fellness
• nastiness
• sanguineness
• despitefulness
• cattiness
• heavy-handedness
• hardhandedness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• compassion
• sympathy
• humanity
• kindness
• humaneness
• tenderness
• benignity
• warmth
• tenderheartedness
• kindheartedness
• pity
• warmness
• good-heartedness
• mercy
• leniency
• clemency
• warmheartedness
• charitableness
• mercifulness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of cruelty

Primo Levi described how, in concentration camps, those who had suffered the longest sometimes met newcomers with something closer to cruelty than solidarity. — Paul Bloom, New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2026

For too long, the daily cruelty and the coarseness of political rhetoric have elicited only shrugs, or more often, laughter. — Chicago Tribune, 6 Nov. 2026

An animal cruelty officer found a small white dog with light tan or brown spots that appeared to have been run over, according to the department. — Eric Weiss, Sun Sentinel, 6 Nov. 2026

All 27 people arrested face charges of dogfighting and felony cruelty to animals, Sheriff Chris Carroll said in an update. — Christopher Harris, CBS News, 6 Nov. 2026