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

Emily Blunt’s comments, for instance, felt less like cruelty and more like fright, which is a different thing to be upset about. — Corbin Bolies, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026

That day showed the depths of human cruelty — but the lasting image is the heights of human courage. — Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 14 Sep. 2026

Carrie also faces the relentless pressure and casual cruelty of the social‑media age, and the awakening of mysterious telekinetic powers that rise alongside her adolescence. — Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2026

The doc is similarly unflinching in showing the horrific scene from 1900 in which Donald Sutherland’s sadistic fascist murders a young boy in a shockingly callous way, while Laura Betti as his equal in cruelty dissolves into blood-curdling cackles. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2026