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
Now the cruelty that defines our attitudes toward children has a receptacle in social media.
—
Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2025
Such cruelty reveals the true nature of this regime.
—Kim Aris, Time, 7 Nov. 2025
Victor quickly apologizes for his past cruelty and begs the Creature for his forgiveness in the film’s final few moments.
—Yasmeen Hamadeh, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2025
Often cruelty happens out of broken hearts.
—Stephen Schaefer, Boston Herald, 6 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cruelty
Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2025
Such cruelty reveals the true nature of this regime.
—Kim Aris, Time, 7 Nov. 2025
Victor quickly apologizes for his past cruelty and begs the Creature for his forgiveness in the film’s final few moments.
—Yasmeen Hamadeh, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2025
Often cruelty happens out of broken hearts.
—Stephen Schaefer, Boston Herald, 6 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cruelty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cruelty
Noun
-
With much of the world horrified by the USSR’s brutality, Eisenhower was furious that the British-French-Israeli offensive was both diverting international attention and handing Moscow a PR victory by enabling it to speak about Western aggression in the Middle East.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
-
The 1986 film also included accounts by former conscripts who had been forced to participate in the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, making clear the hopelessness and brutality of the war, starkly contrasting with the Kremlin’s version of a war of progress and purpose.—
Will Tizard,
Variety,
2 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
These satellite images from late October appearing to show bodies in the streets and bloodstains on the ground, gruesome signs of the atrocities visible from space.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 Nov. 2025
-
Raymond’s team has been tracking atrocities in Sudan using satellite imagery from NASA and commercial sources.—
Nicolas Niarchos,
New Yorker,
7 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cruelty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cruelty. Accessed 17 Nov. 2025.
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